LAHORE-Jamaat-i-Islami Chief Senator Sirajul Haq has stressed the need for free and fair election to promote genuine democracy.
He was talking to the media after a meeting with a PTI delegation led by Shah Mahmood Qureshi at Mansoora Friday evening.
Siraj said that the Election Commission and other related institutions would have to adopt an effective role to prevent the use of wealth in elections.
The PTI delegation sought JI’s support for the former Punjab Governor Ch. Muhammad Sarwar, for Senate seat. Opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, Mehmud ur Rashid and Aleem Khan, accompanied Qureshi. JI Secretary General, Liaqat Baloch and JI deputy chief Dr Farid Ahmed Piracha, were also present.
Talking to the media after the meeting, Shah Mehmdu Qureshi said that the PTI and the JI had almost identical views on major issues. He said that he had requested JI’s support in the Senate election and he was happy that the JI Chief had given a positive response. Sirajul Haq told the media that the JI wanted a dialogue among the political parties to save country’s politics and democratic system from destruction. He said that a good political leadership could not come forth without eliminating the factor of wealth in the elections.
Replying to a question, Shah Mehmud Queshi said that the judiciary in the country was truly independent and playing its constitutional role. However, he said, that whoever lost his case in the court, he started criticizing the courts which was not proper.
To a question regarding the arrest of a senior bureaucrat in the Punjab, JI chief that in a political set up where entire politics revolved around a single individual, such developments were not something unexpected. He said it was improper for the Punjab government to call a cabinet meeting on the issue.