Sirajul Haq resigns as JI chief after election defeat

LAHORE: Jamat-e-Islami (JI) Ameer Sirajul Haq on Monday announced to resign from the party position following the defeat in February 8 general elections, ARY News reported.

“I accept responsibility for the election defeat and have resigned from the post of party ameer,” said Sirajul Haq in a short post on X (formerly Twitter).

محنت اور کوشش کے باوجود کامیابی نہین دلا سکا، الیکشن میں شکست کی ذمہ داری قبول کرتے ہوئے جماعت اسلامی کی امارت سے استعفی دے دیا ہے۔

— Siraj ul Haq (@SirajOfficial) February 12, 2024

The development was also confirmed by Qaiser Sharif – JI’s Central Secretary Information.

He said that JI’s Secretary General Ameerul Azeem summoned an emergency session of the central shura on February 17 at the party’s headquarters — Mansoora Lahore.

“The central shura’s session will commence at 10am and mull over the post-resignation of the JI Ameer,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that after Jamat-e-Islami (JI), a religio-political party failed to secure any seats in the National Assembly (NA).

The party won two seats in Sindh, three in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one in the Balochistan assemblies.

Sirajul Haq was elected as the new ameer of JI in 2014, replacing the then-outgoing chief Syed Munawar Hassan. Out of 31,311 office-bearers of the party, 25,533 people voted which Sirajul Haq managed to secure a majority of votes in 2014.

Haq remained JI chief for a tenure of five years and he was re-elected in 2019. Now after serving the JI for 10 years, he finally resigned from his post.

Earlier in the day, Sindh Assembly MPA-elect and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman announced to quit PS-129, citing ‘rigging’ in elections 2024.

Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said according to FORM 45 he received 26,000 votes but was ‘declared winner with 30464 votes’.

PTI-backed independent candidate grabbed more votes than me, JI Karachi chief said and added he dares to quit the seat over ‘rigged’ results.

Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami, Karachi, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman emerged victorious in the Sindh Assembly election for PS-129, Karachi Central-VIII, according to unofficial results issued by the Returning Officer/Election Commission of Pakistan on Saturday.