JI's Siraj stresses voting rights for overseas Pakistanis, electoral reforms and elections

Lahore: Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Sirajul Haq Saturday said the country's establishment felt embarrassed after the failure of the PTI project and it again brought back the former ruling parties into power.

It had been proved the three parties nurtured under the umbrella of the establishment and there was no difference among their polices, he said while presiding over a meeting of central political council at Mansoorah.

The meeting discussed political situation and preparedness for election. The suggestions of the council will be put before Majlise Shura for consideration and final decisions.

The country, he said, needed fresh polls with electoral reforms. He said the JI wanted the overseas Pakistani must be given voting rights but the Election Commission of Pakistan should develop constituencies for them according to their ratio in different areas.

The government, he said, could also fix special seats for them in national and provincial assemblies. The political parties, he said, should join hand for electoral reforms and they must consider the principle of proportional representation which was successfully adopted by different democracies in the world.

Siraj warned the government against taking anti-poor decisions on the pressure of the IMF, saying the incumbent rulers should review the agreements with the international lenders instead of making surrender for dollars.

The government, he said, must abolish VIP culture, interest-based economy, non-developmental expenditures and took other measures in light of Islamic teachings to build the economy.

Siraj said he saw no differences in the policies of the former and present government. There was no check to inflation and the prices of food items were going up with every day passing, he said. The government, he added, increased the electricity tariff and it was set to raise petrol prices on the pressure of the IMF.

He said the ruling elite was least bothered for the poor masses. It had been proved that three parties (the PML-N, the PPP and the PTI) were failed to provide any relief to the people. They were only worried for the protectionof self-interest, he said, adding achieving backing of the establishment and international lending agencies and powers were the only objective of theirs.

The JI chief said the JI wanted to change the system as on April 10 only a face was changed. Just another person came to power to protect the system which already failed to deliver, he said.

He said Islamic system guaranteed the welfare of humanity and since the country was created in the name of Islam, the system based on Islamic teachings could put Pakistan on track.

Siraj said if voted to power, the JI would bring real change, build economy on Islamic model and introduce land reforms.

He said the JI would distribute government lands among agriculture graduates and introduce Zakat based system of economy.