KARACHI: Following days of uncertainty within MQM-P ranks, party leader Farooq Sattar offered an olive branch to the party’s Bahadurabad group to end the current impasse over the issue of Senate tickets.
“After days of consultations, we have decided to offer those in Bahadurabad that they can submit their four names for Senate nominations and we will accept those,” said the party leader.
He further said that he was willing to take four names for Senate from the opposing group and will “support the names without comment”.
Sattar said the issue was not related to his ego as “if it was about Farooq Sattar’s ego, the issue would be left hanging”.
Referring to the party’s opposing group which emerged over Senate nominations, the MQM-P leader further said that the workers were with him and the perception should not be given that he was being stubborn.
He also said that a notice has been served to the Bahadurabad leaders regarding their convention being held today.
“People are being forcefully being brought to the convention and this is not appropriate,” added Sattar.
Reiterating his earlier stance, the leader said the issue was not over Senate tickets but “something else”.
‘Sattar’s offer a positive sign’
MQM-P’s Bahudurabad faction member Aminul Haq welcomed Sattar’s offer and said he will convey it to the Rabita Committee.
“MQM-P wants unity,” he said.
Haq again reiterated the faction’s stance and said they had visited Sattar at PIB on three separate occasions and the entire Rabita Committee also waited for him over an hour.
We had also asked Sattar to head the Rabita Committee and had asked him to visit Bahadurabad multiple times, but sadly Farooq bhai did not even try to meet us even once, the MQM leader lamented.
Amin added that the Rabita Committee can remove whoever it wants with a two-third majority and they have submitted a copy of the party’s decision to the ECP.
Earlier, the embattled party leader had announced that he was dissolving the party’s Rabita Committee, hours after members of the coordination committee at the party’s Bahadurabad office said he was no longer the convener of the party.
The latest episode of infighting between two factions of the party started over the issue of distribution of party tickets for next month’s Senate elections, with the Bahadurabad group opposing Sattar’s nomination of relative newcomer Kamran Tessori over seasoned party leader.
But, speaking to the media on Sunday, Sattar said the issue was not over distribution of Senate tickets but a conspiracy had been hatched to ‘seize control’ of the party.
The dispute between the PIB Colony and Bahadurabad factions had emerged on February 6 after both parties had taken different positions on the nominations of party members for the upcoming Senate elections.
