LAHORE, Aug 3: Speakers at a sitting here have deplored failure of governance, which has pushed the country towards chaos.

A group of columnists, analysts and civil society members deliberated upon national issues at a Roundtable Conference organised by the Pakistan Institute of National Affairs at TECH Society Club, says a press release.

There was a consensus among the participants that all political and religious parties which were advocating and striving for a stable, clean and efficient government to emerge from the forthcoming election should rise above party interests and make a grand alliance against the “forces of corruption that have destroyed national fabric”.

Altaf Hasan Qureshee presided over the event in which Prof Dr Mugheesuddin Sheikh, Prof Dr Mujahid Mansoori, Qayyum Nizami, Sajjad Mir, Farrukh Suhail Goindi, Irshad Ahmad Aarif, Rauf Tahir and Zubair Sheikh spoke.

The conference urged that political parties should avoid mudslinging against each other and rather work for creating a congenial environment to develop a consensus on a national agenda capable of ensuring an effective delivery system for the masses and giving hope of employment opportunities to the youth.

Speakers also stressed that the media make conscious efforts to iron out differences in society. They asked the political parties to launch a campaign to verify the entries in the voter lists published by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The conference said the government and the opposition should agree on a neutral caretaker setup to ensure free, fair and transparent election in the country for smooth transfer of power at the earliest.

The participants expressed solidarity with the Myanmar Muslims who were being subjected to genocide. They appealed to the Pakistan government and the world community to intervene and stop these killings.