Jamaat Islami chief Sirajul Haq, who is acting as a go-between to mitigate political tensions in the country, has called for having a unanimous date for the elections.

“Now even if the election becomes controversial. So if you sit in a car, and one rider wants to drive it east or west, what will happen? Therefore, whenever the election is held, you have to play cricket as well. So the decision date of the ground is also to be decided, so the countries should decide on this one date,” he said at Asma Shirazi’s show Faisla Aap Ka on Monday.

Last week, JI’s chief Siraj met with PTI chief Imran Khan and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to resolve the crisis through dialogue. The government and the opposition have been up against each other since Khan was ousted in April 2022, however, the political tension was exacerbated after the dissolution of assemblies.

But now the political crisis has turned into a judicial as Parliament tries to clip the chief justice of Pakistan’s powers at a time when the apex court was hearing an election delay case.

Siraj was of the view that no one would accept the result of an election if it was prematurely contested, lamenting the Rs21 billion cost to be spent on the election to the Punjab Assembly. He feared that the country would be leading towards a civil war and riots in such a situation.

“The chief justice has time to show magnanimity. Everyone respects him. Instead of discussing the issue in a still smaller bench, let the full court sit, consisting of seventeen judges. He has taken this burden on his own shoulders,” he said while commenting on the election delay case.

The Supreme Court comprises 15 judges, according to the top court website. There are also two ad-hoc members of the Shariat Appellate Bench.

“People thought that if the matter of election went to the Supreme Court, then the matter would be resolved, but now the matter has become more confused,” he added.

The JI chief lamented that poor people were suffering from the “political fight” adding that the political instability had a bad impact on the economy.

“If we are not able to reach an agreement after Eid, these difficulties will further increase,” he added.