JI chief likely to run for Senate

PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) is likely to announce today that its chief Sirajul Haq would be the party candidate for the Senate elections, a source told The News on Wednesday.The party’s provincial head Prof Muhammad Ibrahim Khan is likely to be the covering candidate for Sirajul Haq.
Though the JI had constituted a board for selecting the candidates for the Senate polls, it was obvious that Sirajul Haq was always the leading choice. Though the party doesn’t have the required numerical strength in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to get Sirajul Haq elected as Senator, it has been trying to strike a bargain with its ruling coalition partners, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP), for the purpose.
JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch has already held meetings with the PTI leadership in this regard.The 52-year old Sirajul Haq is currently Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) from his native Lower Dir district. His party wants him to be in the Senate so that he could play an active role as a legislator in the centre.
The MPAs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would elect 12 Senators on general, technocrat, women and minority seats in the forthcoming Senate election. The JI is the second major coalition partner in the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government. It has eight members in the 124-member Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. They include Sirajul Haq, Muzaffar Said, Inayatullah, Malik Behram, Habibur Rahman, Saeed Gul, Mohammad Ali and Rashida Zafar.
Sirajul Haq quit the office of senior minister for finance when he was elected the JI head. Presently Muzaffar Said, Habibur Rahman and Inayatullah are representing the JI in the provincial cabinet.Sirajul Haq was elected the central chief of the JI in March last year. He continued working as the JI chief and senior minister for a few months.