BAJAUR: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) central chief Sirajul Haq on Wednesday reiterated the call for the immediate holding of national and provincial assembly elections saying it will ease the current political crisis in the country.

“Political turmoil in the country is increasing fast. I fear that it will lead to a civil war if elections of the national and provincial assemblies aren’t held immediately and simultaneously,” Mr Haq told a public meeting here.

The event was held to launch the party’s four-day ‘Haqooq-i-Qabail’ March.

The JI chief said that elections were a solution to the current economic crisis as well. He said that the holding of elections to the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies only would be a waste of the taxpayers’ money.

Mr Siraj said that the federal government claimed that over Rs72 billion was required to conduct elections in every province, but ironically, it wasn’t opting for general elections in the country the same day to save the taxpayers’ money.

He said that members of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration feared their “shameful” defeat in elections and therefore, they were opposed to the simultaneous polls in the country.

The JI leader said that the prime minister and leaders of other ruling parties should understand the gravity of the ongoing political and economic crises and agree to the announcement of the schedule for general elections across the country without delay to serve national interest.

He urged the top judiciary and the Election Commission of Pakistan to play their due role in easing the political crisis in the country by performing their respective jobs with neutrality and impartiality.

Mr Siraj said that his party would actively participate in the elections to both Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.

“We have finalised names of the candidates for the upcoming electoral exercise,” he said.

The JI chief criticised the federal and Punjab governments over the recent police action against PTI workers in Lahore’s Zaman Park area to arrest former prime minister and party chairman Imran Khan.

He demanded an immediate halt to the crackdown on PTI workers to prevent more violence.

Mr Siraj said that only his political party’s leadership wasn’t corrupt.

He said the Toshakhana records had exposed the “corrupt faces” of the PTI, PML- N, PPP and other political parties.

The JI leader said that the Haqooq-i-Qabail March was meant to highlight major issues of tribal districts.

He said the government should restore peace in tribal districts, give away Rs100 billion funds to the region annually for 10 years, grant three per cent share in the NFC Award for tribal districts, restore 12 National Assembly and 24 provincial assembly seats for the erstwhile Fata, pay for damaged and destroyed houses, and recruit at least 20,000 youths in police.

Mr Siraj said the march would cover Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai and North Waziristan tribal districts until March 18.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2023