Political impasse: ‘Government’s writ ceases to exist in Islamabad by nightfall’

LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami Ameer Sirajul Haq said on Tuesday that writ of the government prevailed in Islamabad only during the day as the capital happened to be in the grip of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and the Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) sit-ins by nightfall.

He was speaking to journalists in Mansoora. Haq said the two parties and the government should forsake their egos to preserve national unity and safeguard democracy and the Constitution. He said past governments had always ignored matters of national importance till they became acute.

Haq said the onus for the current situation rested with the government’s apathetic handling of the June 17 Model Town violence and allegations of electoral rigging in the last general elections.  He said the jirga had succeeded in bringing stakeholders to the negotiation table. Haq said the government and the opposition had held 37 rounds of negotiations after the jirga was convened. He said all political parties had united to preserve democracy for the first time in the political history of Pakistan. Haq said the jirga had been convened with their consent.

He said it had succeeded in breaking the political deadlock. Haq said the jirga would continue till the crisis had been resolved. He said democracy and politics would be held captive if the recommendations of the jirga were disregarded. He said political crises would not emerge if every state institution worked in their ambit.

Haq said Western powers were conspiring to destabilise Pakistan. He said they wanted it to become like Iraq, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan.

Haq said the JI’s stance on the Kalabagh Dam was congruent with that of the nation. He said flood-control measures were taken across the world and Pakistan should follow suit too. Haq said the government had failed to prevent the public from recurring floods and had not constructed dams. He said this had resulted in havoc.

Haq said the party and the Al-Khidmat were striving to alleviate the problems confronting those affected.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2014.