Jamaat-e-Islami to part ways with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government

PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami on Wednesday decided to part ways with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government — led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. 

The provincial party chief Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, in a statement, said the decision was done in good faith. 

"We will make the announcement in a joint press conference with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak," said Khan.

The Jamaat-e-Islami leader further said that the decision was the need of present times, after the restoration of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). 

"We will not be part of any attempts to weaken the government after parting ways," stated Khan, adding that his party will firmly stand with the KP government in the hour of need in the future.   

Jamaat-e-Islami is PTI's ally in the province, with the latter in charge of the ministries of finance and local government. 

Recently, a rift had surfaced between the two political allies over the Senate elections. In a statement, the JI Chief Siraj-ul-Haq had said that the KP CM had asked for his party's support in the election for the Senate chairman position, stating that he had received 'orders from higher ups.'

PTI had strongly condemned the statement. The party's spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry had said that Jamaat-e-Islami's stances were unclear; the party had approached the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case yet become Nawaz Sharif's supporter in the Senate elections. 

Chaudhry had further added that on the one hand, Haq levelled accusations against PTI and on the other hand continued its alliance with the KP government. 

He had suggested that the party part ways with the government if it had issues with the latter.