LAHORE   -  Jamaat-e-Islami Emir Siraj-ul-Haq has said that the prolonged rule of a select few families in Punjab has been a major factor contributing to the suffering of the province’s people, urging the masses to reject the corrupt ruling elite in order to safeguard the future of the upcoming genera­tion. Speaking at a sit-in protest held in front of the Governor House in Lahore on Thursday, he called upon the government to reduce electric­ity tariffs and the prices of essential commodi­ties and pledged to persist in the struggle until the rights of the people are duly addressed. The JI is staging a three-day sit-in protest as part of its ongoing campaign against inflation. It had staged a protest in front of the Peshawar Gover­nor House, and following the conclusion of the Lahore protest, it had planned to hold similar demonstrations in Quetta and Karachi. During the event, JI Vice-Emir Liaqat Baloch, Dr. Farid Paracha, and JI Secretary General Amirul Azim also addressed the gathering, which drew a substantial crowd of participants. Emphasizing that elections represent the primary means to achieve stability, Haq stressed the critical role of the Election Commission in ensuring free and fair general elections. He called for making pub­lic the agreements with the IMF and Indepen­dent Power Producers (IPPs) and announced the JI’s intention to approach the Supreme Court regarding costly projects involving IPPs. He said the JI would release a white paper on the energy sector. He lamented that the govern­ment had sought approval from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) even to allow struggling consumers to pay their hefty bills in installments, asserting that the nation’s sovereignty had been compromised at the hands of international lend­ing agencies and foreign powers.