LAHORE: Chief of Jammat-e-Islami (JI) Sirajul Haq has warned that the country could plunge into anarchy if the prevailing economic and political crises go unaddressed.
While addressing the launching ceremony of JI manifesto for the general elections at a local hotel on Wednesday, he said the country was facing inflation, lawlessness, and poverty with the ruling parties indulged in the fight for protection of self-interests.
JI vice Emir Dr Farid Paracha was the head, and JI Deputy Secretary General Muhammad Ashgar was the secretary of the manifesto committee which prepared the document covering economy, agriculture, industry, women, youth, minorities, accountability, peace and order, local government, defence, overseas Pakistanis and other sectors. JI Vice Emir Liaqat Baloch, JI Secretary General Ameerul Azim, and leaders of the JI women, youth, and Kissan wings also attended the event. Lawyers, doctors, engineers, economic experts, religious scholars, and journalists also participated in the event, where the JI election anthem and symbol ‘Balance’ were also launched.
Haq said the PDM, the PPP and the PTI lacked the ability to govern the country as they all had no intent to fix the problems. The troika, he said ruled the country for years, having no interest in setting the economy on track and strengthening the institutions. The powerful military establishment, he said, always provided backing to the agents of the status quo, creating hurdles in the rule of law, real change and viable democracy. The judicial system, he said, provided protection to the powerful instead of the poor and weak that had no access to justice. He said Pakistan is full of resources, having no need for foreign and the IMF loans. But, he added, it needed good governance and an end to the VIP culture, corruption and non-development expenditures. How a poor country where a governor lives in the palace of 700 kanals and the official residences of bureaucracy stretch over acres could survive, he wondered. The system, he said, was corrupt to the core, and only the JI had the ability and vision to overhaul it.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023