Hafiz Naeemur Rehman new Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chief

Party chief Munawar Hasan finalizes Naeemur Rehman's name for JI Karachi Ameer.

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) chief Syed Munawar Hasan has appointed Hafiz Naeemur Rehman as the new Karachi chief for a three-year term on Friday, following intra-party polls on October 5.

JI's official Facebook page stated that Munawar Hasan finalized Rehman's name for the post following discussions with other members of the party.

Rehman will now serve a three-year term after Ameer JI Sindh Dr Mairajul Huda swears him in as Karachi chief on Sunday at Idara Noor-e-Haq, the party’s headquarters in Karachi.

Nizamuddin Memon had been serving as the interim Ameer of Karachi following Mehanti's resignation last month.

Unsatisfactory performance in general elections

Earlier, former Ameer Mehanti had decided to step down after the general elections of May 11. His resignation was accepted by the party leadership on September 11.

On the day of the election, JI had announced a boycott of elections in Karachi against what Mehanti termed “hijacking of the electoral process by Muttahida Qaumi Movement with support of police, the Rangers and the election commission’s staff.”

The decision, however, had stirred a feeling of frustration among the activists and supporters of the party who expected to see their candidates in the national and provincial assembly after a gap of five years due to a blanket boycott of general elections by the party in February 2008.

Mehanti, on his resignation, told The Express Tribune that it was his gesture to accept the responsibility and preserve the democratic traditions within the JI.