Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Sirajul Haq, has said that democracy implied rule of law and not monarchy but the country's rules were not prepared to accept this principle. While addressing a meeting of an advisory body of the JI at Masnsoora on Wednesday, he said unfortunately, the civilian rulers as well as dictators in Pakistan wanted the state institutions and the courts to be subservient to them. The rulers were not ready to attach any importance or sanctity to the constitution or the law. Instead, they treated the laws and rules as toys only to serve their interests, he added.
Sirajul Haq said that Nawaz Sharif's appearance before the NAB court was a healthy sign but it was no favour to the nation or the country. He said, the court had summoned the ousted premier as an accused as he was accused of amassing assets beyond his known means of earning.
He further said that after being indicted by the court, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar should have stepped down from his high office even if there was no demand for that from any quarter. "How can an individual who has been unable to account for his personal wealth in billions, be handed over the keys of the public exchequer", he asked.
The JI chief said that for the last seventy years, the rulers had been making a mockery of the constitution and the law as they thought themselves above everything. However, he said, the times had changed and now the criminals and plunderers would have to give due respect to the courts and also account for their wealth.
Sirajul Haq said that from the very beginning, the JI had been demanding the accountability of all others named in the Panama leaks besides those who had plundered the country's banks and the public money in any form and for recovering their ill gotten wealth abroad.
To a question regarding the change of the Leader of the Opposition, the JI chief said that Syed Khurshid Shah as well as PTI leader Shah Mehmud Qureshi had contacted him by phone in this regard. However, he said that for the time being, the real issue before the JI was the elimination of corruption and all political parties should join hands to achieve this end.