Plea to be filed in IHC against govt: JI urges ECP to hold LG polls in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman on Thursday, while urging the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold local government elections in Islamabad has said that his party is going to file a contempt petition in Islamabad High Court (IHC) against government for continuously violating the court’s orders.

Addressing at a press conference here, he said that last local government elections were held in Islamabad in 2015 and local government elections were due in 2020 since then the government is regularly ignoring the polls; the IHC has multiple times ordered the ECP and the government for local government polls. He also announced the launch of the second phase of the “Haq Do Awam Ko” movement, beginning on September 1, along with a nationwide party membership drive.

He said that government has introduced an amendment in local government bill to delay it. He further said that on behalf of the JI, he strongly condemned multiple deaths by terrorists in Balochistan recently, adding that those involved in the heinous crime must be brought to justice. He said that the people of Punjab have always welcomed the people of other provinces and extended support to them without any discrimination. The enemies of Pakistan are trying to disintegrate the country created in the name of Islam aiming at providing equal rights to every citizen.

He said that the nation must not listen to those trying to create differences among the Pakistanis on tribal, linguistic, regional and provincial basis. He said that his party has announced to arrange grand public gathering for the rights of the people of Balochistan for which dates will soon be announced. He said that the ruling elite were consolidating their grip on power by creating differences among the common people and they remain united.

There should not be any place for hatred among the common people in the name of difference of identities, adding that JI Balochistan will soon reach out to all the provincial parties to strengthen national harmony among the various ethnic groups in the province.

He said that protecting lives and properties are the basic responsibility of the government and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should focus on controlling the law and order situation as people have voted them for service not rule.

While slamming Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) government in Sindh, he said that the PPP has captured all the considerable powers of the LG set up in open defiance of the Constitution. He elaborated that the constitution clearly mentions that administrative, monetary and political powers are to be devolved to the LGs.

On the other hand, he said, the elected chairmen are being kept deprived of powers to remove solid waste from roads, the water board and the transport department are kept out of their ambit of powers, and the master plan and development authorities are also kept out of their control.

The JI leader said the PPP neither delivers in Karachi itself nor does it let anyone else do so. He said the PPP seeks the shelter of democratic slogans; otherwise, it is a party of fascism in its core.

He also said the PPP spends billions of rupees on advertisements, while on the ground the post-rain situation in the interior areas of the province is an eye-opener for the nation.

Similarly, he added, the patchwork on roads in Karachi cost billions of rupees of taxpayers’ money last year, but before the fresh spell of rains, not even a single road was in shape.

He congratulated the nation and traders on the success of Wednesday's historic shutter-down strike, stating the JI has initiated consultations with traders for further strikes and with transporters for a potential wheel-jam strike, if the government continues to resist providing relief to the masses.

Rehman stressed that the government must immediately reduce electricity tariffs and eliminate unfair taxes on both the business community and the salaried class. He denounced the ruling elite for their extravagance at the cost of state resources, demanding that taxes be imposed on feudal lords and unjust agreements with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) be revoked. He argued for a unified power tariff based on the actual cost of production, excluding the exorbitant capacity charges currently benefiting the IPPs.

He pointed out that IPPs have not only received billions in capacity payments from the national exchequer but have also been granted massive tax exemptions. In contrast, the common people are being weighed down by excessive taxation.

“The people are no longer willing to endure this injustice,” he said, explaining that JI's movement aims to unite the masses and initiate a struggle against these oppressive practices. He added that the government has 24 days left to fulfil the agreement it made with JI after the 14-day sit-in. Should the government fail to comply, JI will continue to employ peaceful means of resistance to compel action in favour of the public, he said.

The JI leader held the PML-N and the PPP were equally responsible for the economic and security crises plaguing the country, asserting that expecting relief and betterment from political parties that function as family dynasties is a futile endeavour. He said that these parties are incompetent, focusing solely on plundering the nation's resources. The IPPs owned by the Sharif family, he added, have drained billions from the national treasury, and if they were to forgo these payments, the entire nation would experience relief in electricity costs.

He criticised the government for postponing local government elections in Islamabad, asserting that Pakistan’s so-called democratic governments have consistently failed to strengthen local governance structures.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024