LAHORE    -   Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Sirajul Haq has reiterated the call for early elections, asking the prime minister to ensure the polls as soon as possible instead of focusing on execution of projects.

While addressing a press conference at Mansoorah on Friday, he said that it was responsibility of the new government to introduce electoral reforms with the consensus of all political parties before the general elections.

Sirajul Haq welcomed the DG ISPR statement about the impossibility of martial law, saying it ended many doubts and confusions. “The institutions including judiciary, military and election commission must keep their neutrality intact in the benefit of the country. If establishment interfered into politics, it must expect criticism from political workers,” he said.

He demanded that the government review agreements with the IMF and bring down prices of food items and petrol and decrease the electricity and gas tariff. “The old status of the State Bank of Pakistan must be restored,” he said. The JI chief called for implementation of the JI-PPP agreement on Karachi reforms and Sindh local government. He said the new government should address the concerns of the people of Gwadar and other areas of Balochistan. “The government,” he said, “should recognise Afghan government and take a bold stance on Kashmir issue.” To a question, he replied the Supreme Court of Pakistan should form a judicial commission to probe into letter-gate. He said the JI believed that the US interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs was an open secret yet it did not see any reason that Washington wanted to end the PTI regime. “The US establishment,” he said, “was rather comfortable with Imran Khan’s government which implemented all the demands of the international lending agencies working with the backing of America, facilitated NATO forces and did not recognise the Afghanistan government on US pressure.” He said the JI believed the three ruling parties (the PML-N, the PPP and the PTI) could never make a stand against US dictations.

“The people have tested the three parties for years. These parties have given nothing to the people,” he said.

He said that the JI was not in a mood to develop political alliance with the tested parties. “We will go to elections under our own flag, manifesto and elections symbol.”