Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Sirajul Haq, has said that the Bill passed by the ruling party allowing a disqualified person to hold party office was in conflict with the constitution and an attempt to bulldoze the Supreme Court judgment in the Panama leaks case.
Talking to the media after a meeting of JI central executive at Mansoora, he called upon the government to withdraw the controversial Bill which also negated the electoral laws. He said that a person not fulfilling conditions laid down under articles 62 and 63 of the constitution could not be head of a political party.
In reply to a question, the JI chief said that early elections could be held with the consensus of all political parties. However, he said, that instead of allowing the ruling party to become a political martyr by calling early elections, it would be better to let the assemblies complete their term so that the governments' performance was before the electorate. He further said that only a few months were left for the completion of the term of the government.
Sirajul Haq said that the government itself had made the electoral reforms suggested by the Parliamentary Committee controversial by permitting a disqualified person to lead the party as this was violation of the fundamentals of the constitution and this would bring the entire electoral system in dispute and bring bad name to the country. He said that the electoral reforms suggested by the JI had not been considered at all.
The JI chief further said that in a democratic set up, the judgments of the courts were fully respected. However, he said that the ruling party had been distributing sweets on judgments which it thought were in its favor but began protest when the court decision was against its wishes. He said that this attitude was not democratic.
Sirajul Haq strongly condemned India's persistent hostilities at the LoC and the border in which innocent citizens were martyred. He regretted that the Pakistan government was not giving a proper reply to India's excesses and added that this cowardly policy must be changed. He said that India was continuing the genocide of youth in Kashmir while the Pakistan government was keen for friendship with India and for trade agreements with the enemy country. He said the government would have to change its attitude.
Sirajul Haq offered condolences to the family of Army officer, Lt. Arsalan martyred at the Afghan border. He said that the entire nation stood with the bereaved family that had offered its son for national defense.
He urged the Muslim world to work out a common line of action for the restoration of a separate Muslim state in Burma. He said that an urgent meeting of the OIC should be convened and the Muslim states should expel the Burmese envoys and recall their own envoys in Burma.