Political and religious leader Hafiz Abdul Karim has been elected as the new emir of the Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith (JAH).

Karim was elected unopposed after the position fell vacant following the demise of former emir Professor Sajid Mir on May 3, Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Hafiz Abdul Karim on his election and expressed his good wishes for the newly elected chief of the religio-political party.

The PML-N has nominated Hafiz Abdul Karim, who was earlier the secretary-general of JAH, as its candidate for the Senate seat which fell vacant after the demise of Prof Mir.

According to a PML-N press release, party president Nawaz Sharif offered the Senate seat to Prof Mir’s son, Ahmad Mir, but he declined the offer. The PML-N then nominated Karim for the vacant Senate seat.

Karim earlier served as a senator from March 2018 to March 2024 on a technocrat seat from Punjab. He was also a member of the National Assembly from June 2013 to 2018. Besides, he served as the minister for communication in the cabinet of then premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in 2017.

Notable religious and political leader Prof Mir passed away at the age of 86 earlier this month after a heart attack. He was laid to rest in his native Sialkot.

Mir was elected as a PML-N senator in 2021, which was his fifth time contesting the Senate election on the party’s ticket. He had also served as a senator from March 2009 to March 2015.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced the election for the vacant general seat from Punjab in the Senate on May 29.