New PML-F chief: Raja Saeen elected to head party

Vows to work for unification of PML factions.

KARACHI:

Sibghatullah Shah Rashdi, Pir Pagara the VIII, was selected on Saturday to replace his father as the new chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional.

A meeting of the party’s central working committee in their hometown of Pir Jo Goth, the members also empowered the new party head, better known as Raja Saeen, to reorganise the PML-F’s central structure.

After assuming his new responsibilities, Raja Saeen is reported to have said that he would make all possible efforts to unify all factions of the Muslim League, more than you can count on one hand. “My father had a wish ... I will also continue to endeavour in that direction,” he was quoted as saying.

Talking to The Express Tribune over the phone from Pir jo Goth, Imtiaz Shaikh, a member of the party’s central working committee, said that the party would resume its political work after the Chehlum of Shah Mardan Shah who died in London on January 10.

“The new Pir Pagara has inherited his father’s dream. This dream will come true soon,” he said, adding that the party would announce important decisions after the 40-day mourning period ends.

Raja Saeen has been elected to the Sindh Assembly thrice and served as a minister in the cabinets of Ghous Ali Shah, Jam Sadiq Ali and the caretaker government of 2007.

Meanwhile, former home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza along with his wife, National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, called on Raja Saeen to offer their condolence.

Talking to the media, Zulfiqar Mirza said that he had not disappeared from the political scene and was active in politics.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2012.