Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, head of JI. PHOTO: FILE
RAWALPINDI:
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday denounced the Punjab Local Government Act as a “black law”, alleging that new legislation was being drafted to facilitate horse-trading and consolidate elite control over power and resources.
Addressing participants of a JI sit-in on Liaquat Road against the Punjab Local Government Act, the party’s emir said state-sponsored advertising campaigns featuring “the king and queen” were being funded by taxpayers’ money, while ordinary citizens continued to suffer from rising taxes and shrinking public services.
He asked the protesters if they were ready to lay siege to the Punjab Assembly and announced that he would expose what he called “the façade of development projects” over the next two days.
He also announced that a national public referendum would take place on January 15.
Despite the rains, Hafiz Naeem congratulated the participants for their participation, recalling that Jamaat-e-Islami had staged a 14-day sit-in last year and asking if they were ready to do it again.
He alleged that the ‘Form 47’ forces were installed in power by the establishment, saying the leaders, including Nawaz Sharif, had lost the elections.
“If they are champions, let them produce the original forms,” he said, adding that those who sat in the assemblies had not really won the elections but had been imposed.
He said Pakistan would face a long struggle for constitutional supremacy, pointing out that the PTI and PML-N governments had failed to hold local elections in the last six years.
Denouncing dynastic politics, he said a handful of families, including the ‘Chaudhrys’ and ‘waderas’ in Punjab and the Zardari family in Sindh, wanted to retain power indefinitely, amassing wealth through grand schemes and bribes. He argued that the bureaucracy should operate under the direction of elected local governments, rather than concentrating authority in unelected hands, adding that a single trained CSS officer often dominated several administrative positions.
Referring to Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s statement that 26.2 million children were out of school, Hafiz Naeem said the figure was based on a three-year-old report, accusing the government of outsourcing schools instead of addressing governance failures.
He also criticized the outsourcing of Punjab’s basic health units, alleging that services were being privatized while photographs of Maryam Nawaz were being displayed. Punjab should be compared to its own potential rather than Sindh, he added.
He added that new taxes were being imposed on the poor at a time when global petrol prices were at their lowest level in five years, accusing the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) itself of corruption. Calling for structural reform, he said deputy commissioners should be subordinate to elected mayors.
He added that Jamaat-e-Islami had contacted the courts and a hearing was scheduled for the next day, while lamenting that the current judicial system was failing to deliver justice.
