Both PTI and PDM on Tuesday offered Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) the post of Senate deputy chairman.
Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak said that the ruling party has offered senior JUI-F leader Abdul Ghafoor Haideri the post of Senate deputy chairman. The development was confirmed by the defence minister after he held a meeting the JUI-F leader along with Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.
The JUI-F general secretary, however, refused the offer, saying the ruling party was trying to save its ‘sinking ship’ with such acts, reports said.
Reacting to the reports, PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah had said the move by the government seemed to be an attempt to cause a rift within the PDM. “The JUI-F is bound by the decisions of the PDM,” he noted. Sanaullah added that a committee headed by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had been formed to select the nominee for the Senate deputy chairman post. The PML-N leader said that according to his information, the committee had picked Haideri’s name as its nominee for the post as well.
JUI-F leader Hafiz Hamdullah said he hadn’t spoken to Haideri officially but said that according to his information, the veteran JUI-F leader had not been approached by the government. However, he said that if an offer is made, the PDM will take a decision on it. “How can we accept the government’s offer? We don’t even recognise the government,” Hamdullah said.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) said that it was disappointed as the federal government did not take the party into confidence before making offer for Senate deputy chairman slot to the JUI-F.
Hours later, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – the 11-party anti-government alliance -nominated Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) General Secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri for the post of Senate deputy chairman.
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman congratulated Haideri on his nomination, the party said in an official statement, adding that the latter thanked the former for reposing confidence in him. “Will meet your and PDM’s expectations… PDM’s panel would succeed under the leadership of Yousuf Raza Gilani,” he was quoted as saying during the meeting with Maulana Fazl.
The official Twitter handle of JUI-F shared an image in which party’s amir could be seen handing over a bouquet to Haideri.
Pulling off an upset in the March 3 Senate polls, the PDM parties have managed to retain their majority in the upper house of parliament and are now hopeful of getting the top offices of chairman and deputy chairman for which elections through secret balloting are scheduled for March 12.
The PDM also managed to get its candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani elected at the crucial general seat of Islamabad, a contest in which he defeated the PTI’s Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh with five votes.
This setback compelled Prime Minister Imran Khan to seek a trust-vote from the National Assembly on March 6.
On Monday, PDM unanimously nominated former prime minister Gilani for the post of Senate chairman.
Earlier, on March 4, Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced Sadiq Sanjrani as the party’s candidate for Senate chairman.
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