LAHORE: Welcoming announcement of the election date, Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Sirjaul Haq has stressed upon the Election Commission of Pakistan to discharge its duties fully to ensure fair, free and transparent elections.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, he said until and unless the electoral reforms were implemented, the role of wealth in elections was eliminated and the code of conduct was fully enforced, elections would remain an exercise in futility.

Mr Haq said that the prevailing electoral system had hurt the confidence of the masses. “Gangs of the corrupt managed to return to the assemblies through the power of their wealth, while honest, committed and patriotic political workers remained helpless in this game of money.”

He said it was the responsibility of the ECP to effectively check the use of wealth in the elections and strictly enforce the electoral code of conduct. He said if rights of the electorate were usurped on the basis of wealth and the code of conduct was not enforced, the masses would not accept the election results and urged the ECP to take necessary steps in this direction before the polling.

The JI chief said that the prevailing system could be changed only by a team of men of character and the system of tyranny, injustice and exploitation could be wiped out through organised mass struggle.

He hoped that if the elections were held in a fair, free and impartial atmosphere, the five-party religious alliance MMA would emerge as a big force.

Meanwhile, MMA general secretary Liaqat Baloch has said that besides the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari were also responsible for the delay in the announcement of caretaker set-up.

He wondered whether the government and the armed forces would constitute an impartial inquiry commission on Nawaz Sharif’s narrative and the book authored by former ISI chief Asad Durrani.

He was confident that the MMA would give a new hope to the masses in the forthcoming elections with a popular and revolutionary manifesto and a package of national priorities.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2018