LAHORE, July 21: Jamaat-i-Islami will observe Friday (July 25) as protest day to show its concern at the threats to national security, price hike and loadshedding.

Protest demonstrations will be held at all district headquarters in Punjab, party’s provincial amir Liaquat Baloch told a press conference here on Monday.

He said the protest was aimed at “helping the ruling alliance to come out of internal and external pressures and saving the political, democratic and parliamentary system from any major disaster.”

Without clarifying what type of disaster was in store for the system and which forces could spell the blow, he said if the rulers did not act sensibly, their time would shorten as the masses could no longer be put in the dark.

Terming Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s address to the nation disappointing, he said the democratic set-up that emerged after Feb 18 vote had so far proved to be more challenging for the masses and more dangerous for the national security.

The main reason behind it, he said, was continuation of the Musharraf regime’s policies and taking all decisions over and above the parliament.

Baloch said a glaring example of the failure of the PPP government was that neither at national nor at the United Nations level it had so far made any progress in probe into the murder of its leader Benazir Bhutto.

“What good the masses can expect of the rulers, who are insensitive towards their own slain leader.”

He regretted that the ruling alliance could not develop consensus on any policy even if it pertained to providing relief to the people.

About the Fata situation, the Jamaat leader said some foreign hand was pushing the armed forces towards a quagmire due to which the area would become an easy target for the United States.

He said the rulers failed to take the tribal elders into confidence during their 100 days in power.

He told a questioner that the PML-N should give a cut-off date to the PPP for implementation of the Murree Declaration and if the latter failed to honour it the former should part ways with the ruling alliance and join the forces active for launching a drive against Musharraf and his policies.