JI to hold awami march on June 16 in Lahore

Acting party chief says price hike, unemployment and closure of businesses have crushed common man

LAHORE: The Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI) will not leave the public in hard times and will hold an awami march in the city on June 16 against price hike, unemployment, interest-based economy and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slavery.

This was stated by JI Acting Ameer Liaquat Baloch on Saturday. Talking to different delegations at Mansoora, he said that his party would also hold a national budget conference in Islamabad on June 19, he added.

The JI acting chief said that the incompetence and the failure of the government are becoming a burden on the democratic and parliamentary system.

Liaquat said that the government was either unable to run the affairs of the National Assembly and the Senate or its intention was that nothing substantial should be done through the elected institutions.

“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement has extremely harsh terms yet it does not guarantee success,” he said. It was such a unique agreement that the parliament and even the cabinet were unaware of it and most probably, it was outside the range of even the prime minister, he added.

Baloch said that the price hike, unemployment and the closure of the businesses have crushed the common man.

Baloch said that no foreign support could strengthen the country’s economy. This goal could be achieved by taking public into confidence, business circles and the overseas Pakistanis, he added.

He termed the fresh raise in the petroleum prices as unjustified burden on the people and demanded its immediate withdrawal.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2019.