Haideri rejects govt offer of Senate deputy chairmanship
Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) general secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani talk to reporters after a meeting in Islamabad.
According to PDM information secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, it was decided that the candidate for Senate deputy chairman would be from JUI-F while the leader of the opposition would be from the PML-N.
Shortly afterwards, spokesperson for JUI-F, Aslam Ghauri, confirmed that Maulana Haideri would contest the election for the deputy chairman’s office as a joint candidate of the opposition.
“[PDM President and JUI-F chief] Maulana Fazlur Rehman has approved Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri’s name for deputy chairman,” he said, adding that those who wanted to create chaos within the PDM would fail.
“PDM candidates will succeed. PDM will achieve full success,” the spokesperson claimed.
The PTI has so far not announced its candidate for the office of deputy chairman, keeping the slot open and placing itself in a better bargaining position to ensure the support of its allies and independent candidates.
Earlier, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) general secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri on Tuesday rejected the government’s offer of Senate deputy chairmanship and condemned “in the strongest words” Defence Minister Pervez Khattak’s statement in front of the media without discussing it in a meeting beforehand.
While talking to reporters alongside Haideri and Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani after a meeting on Tuesday, Khattak said that we had invited Haideri to come and be the deputy Senate chairman.
“It will be beneficial for him and everyone,” the minister added. At the time, Haideri said that he had come to meet the Senate chairman which was something he does as a matter of routine.
