ISLAMABAD: The election of Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri to the coveted seat of Senate deputy chairman appears to be a reward for his services to his party and its chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Senator Haidery, who is also the JUI-F secretary general was elected to the second highest office in the Senate with 74 votes, despite having only five senators in the house.

“Though we have our ideological differences with religious parties, we are not at war with them,” said Awami National Party Information Secretary Zahid Khan, when asked to explain the ANP’s decision to support Senator Haideri.

PPP spokesperson Farhatullah Babar explained his party’s rationale behind supporting the JUI-F candidate thus: “After Raza Rabbani’s name was agreed upon by all parties as the chairman-designate, opposition parties decided that the deputy chairmanship should fall to the government, and it was agreed that the candidate should be from Balochistan.”

He went on to say that around this time, media reports naming Senator Hasil Bizenjo of the National Party as a potential candidate began circulating. Hinting that the PPP did not realise that they would end up supporting a JUI-F man for the office of deputy chairman, Mr Babar conceded that, “Maulana Fazlur Rehman played his cards extremely well. He came to us first, despite being a coalition partner, and then managed to win over the government as well.”

“We have other senators from Balochistan too, but unlike Senator Hamdullah – who is a Pashtun – Maulana Haideri is a Brohi-speaking Baloch,” JUI-F spokesperson Hafiz Hussain Ahmed told Dawn.

He said that Maulana Haideri was among Maulana Fazalur Rehmans favourites because he had always been a loyal and trustworthy ally. The spokesperson was referring to the recent troubles the party had faced when certain members of the party cadre wanted to replace Maulana Fazalur Rehman as head of JUI-F in intra–party elections. “Those who remained under [Fazl’s] umbrella were rewarded too,” Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said.

Senator Haideri has ha d an illustrious career with the JUI-F, and was elected central secretary general of the five consecutive times, from 1994 till present day.

Born in Kalat in 1957, Senator Haideri has an M.A. in Islamiat from the Wafaq-ul-Madaris Al-Arabia, and has enjoys considerable political clout within the party.

Joining the JUI-F as a student activist, Senator Haidery was the president of the Jamiat Tulba Islam Balochisan and later became its central vice-president.

He refused to leave his leader’s side when the party was divided amongst Fazlur Rehman and Samiul Haq in the late 1980s. He was elected to the Balochistan Assembly in 1990 and was made a provincial minister in 1992. He became an MNA in 1993 by beating Sardar Akhtar Mengal in the general elections. In 2002, he was elected to the National Assembly on a Muttahidda Majlis-i-Amal ticket.

In 2008, the party awarded him a ticket for the upper house and he remained a senator from March 2009 to March 2015. He has also remained the state minister for postal services with the current government.

Senator Haidery and Hafiz Hussain Ahmed are also the only two senior JUI-F leaders who have never been attacked by terrorists, despite having quite strong anti-Taliban views.

“Neither Maulana Haideri nor anybody from his family have been reported to be involved with extremists or criminal elements,” said Jalal Noorzai, a former office bearer of the Quetta Press Club.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2015

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