JI won't become part of any political alliance: Hafiz Naeem

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman on Monday reiterated that his party would not become part of any political alliance.

Addressing a meeting of the JI office-bearers at Idara Noor-e-Haq in Karachi, Naeem said, “Our alliance will be with the youth and the people.”

“There is no [real] democracy in political parties,” the JI leader, adding that the parties come to power with the help of the establishment.

The JI leader further alleged that there is “confusion” within the ranks of the political parties and his party could not support the parties hit by confusion. The country would observe a shutter-down strike on August 28, the JI leader said.

JI demands relief in power bills 

Later, addressing a press conference, the JI leader said that a “political emperor” had announced relief of Rs14 per electricity unit for two months in only Punjab, which is “nothing but peanuts”. 

He demanded a substantial relief in power bills for the entire nation.

Naeem demanded that the ruling elite grant substantial relief in electricity bills to the nation.

He said the JI is going to observe a strike on August 28, while a mass mobilisation campaign is also on the cards, apart from the four major public conventions held in various cities over the past 11 days.

He said the JI had signed a 45-day accord, while only 34 days are remaining. Naeem said the JI would take the youth on board during the days to come, and caravans from each and every corner of the country would march on Islamabad if the government does not fulfil the agreement in letter and spirit.

Regarding the non-devolution of powers to local governments, he said the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) government in Sindh has captured all the considerable powers of the LG set-up in open defiance of the country’s constitution. He elaborated that the constitution clearly mentions that administrative, monetary and political powers are to be devolved to the LGs.

On the other hand, he said, the elected chairmen are being kept deprived of powers to remove solid waste from roads, the water board and the transport department are kept out of their ambit of powers, and the master plan and development authorities are also kept out of their control.

The JI leader said the PPP neither delivers in Karachi itself not does it let anyone else do so. He said the PPP seeks the shelter of democratic slogans, otherwise it is a party of fascism in its core.

He also said the PPP spends billions of rupees on advertisements, while on the ground the post-rain situation in the interior areas of the province is an eye-opener for the nation. Similarly, he added, the patchwork on roads in Karachi cost billions of rupees of taxpayers’ money last year, but before the fresh spell of rains, not even a single road was in shape.

Naeem said the water corporation has to pay liabilities worth billions of dollars to international monetary institutions. He asked where exactly does the water corporation send the hefty amounts.

He said the JI has been playing its due role, and in accordance with its promises, the party has been serving the people of Karachi beyond even its mandate and its capacity. On the electricity supply and load-shedding issues of Karachi, he lamented that K-Electric has ruined the city, which was once the City of Lights. He claimed that KE has emerged as the worst face of privatisation.

Over the past 19 years the company’s power generation has reduced by a staggering 20 per cent, he said, adding that KE is on the top in the country when it comes to line losses. Naeem said KE’s power generation plants are dilapidating, adding that the company is imposing itself on Karachiites with the help of corruption and a lunatic nexus of KE, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority and the government.