Sirajul Haq to represent commoners in Senate

Vows to raise voice for rights of KP

By Javed Aziz Khan
March 07, 2015
PESHAWAR: Born and raised in a small house in Maskini village in Samar Bagh area of Lower Dir district, the Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq after remaining a provincial lawmaker and minister has now reached the Upper House of Parliament.
He has vowed to represent the commoners and oppressed people of Pakistan in the Senate.Still living in his small native house in his hometown because he did not make wealth in politics, Sirajul Haq was last year elected as chief of the JI. He was earlier in May 2013 elected as Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) from constituency the Lower Dir constituency PK-95. He would now have to vacate it to make way for by-election in the constituency.
Last year in March, Sirajul Haq quit the office of the senior minister for finance in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to fully concentrate on his responsibilities as JI chief.“I will represent the commoners in the Senate. I will also raise voice for the rights of the province and its due share,” Sirajul Haq told media persons at Al-Markaz-e-Islami Peshawar after delivering the Friday sermon. He demanded the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leadership to return to the National Assembly by withdrawing resignations given by its MNAs.
The JI chief was all praise for the MPAs, saying they had rejected the use of money in the Senate polls. “I am thankful to Almighty Allah. I am also thankful to the MPAs, media and the people of Pakistan who have buried the politics of money,” said the Senator-elect.
He said Islamic and prosperous Pakistan is his goal for which a countrywide campaign is being launched on April 5. The JI chief demanded the federal government to pay all the dues to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to meet its financial needs and said they would not accept any change in the route of the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor.
The JI was largely dependent on its coalition partner PTI for Sirajul Haq’s election as Senator. Some JI leaders were worried after

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reports of alleged use of huge amounts of money in the Senate elections and wanted the PTI leadership to make sure that all those in the panel of Sirajul Haq polled their votes with sincerity.
After the election of Sirajul Haq to Senate, the JI would lose one seat in the KP Assembly. It would make every effort to win the by-election. The JI is the second major coalition partner in the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government. The founder of the third coalition partner in the KP government, Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan’s Liaqat Tarakai, was also elected as senator.
The JI has eight members in the 124-member provincial assembly and has three ministers - Muzaffar Said, Habibur Rahman and Inayatullah. Sirajul Haq was senior minister in the PTI-led government till July last year and was replaced by Muzaffar Said as finance minister.

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