The Election Commission of Pakistan's verdict in a case pertaining to leadership of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) may settle the struggle between Bahadurabad group led by Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and PIB group led by Dr Farooq Sattar.
Sources in both the groups told Business Recorder on Tuesday that they will announce their strategy regarding leadership of their respective factions after the ECP verdict. The ECP will announce its judgment on March 26 on a petition filed by Bahadurabad faction of the MQM-P against its convener Dr Farooq Sattar.
The petitioner's lawyer Dr Farogh Naseem informed the election commission that Dr Farooq Sattar was removed as convener of the party by two-third majority of the Raabita Committee (Coordination Committee) and replaced with Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. He said that Rabita Committee as per constitution of the party holds all the powers of awarding tickets and taking other political decisions instead of the convener of the party.
A close aide of Dr Farooq Sattar, however, said that he was elected convener of the MQM-P through an intra-party election held on February 18 and the PIB group has no legal mandate to appoint a convener of their own choice. He also said the ECP does not have jurisdiction to review the MQM-P's convener issue on a petition filed by the dissident group as this was purely an internal matter of the party.
He also claimed that backdoor negotiations between the two groups were underway for the last many weeks and hopefully a middle ground will be reached in the next couple of weeks.
"We understand that division in the party means an electoral loss in the upcoming general elections; therefore we are trying our best to unite under one leadership before the elections," he said.
He also urged the ECP to resolve the issue as per constitution of the MQM-P which allows a person to become convener of the party by winning intra-party elections.
"Dr Farooq Sattar has been elected convener of the party through intra-party elections, so the election commission is not in a position to set this aside," he said.
Dr Farogh Naseem maintains that Farooq Sattar held the intra-party election after amending the party constitution by himself.
He said that according to the amended constitution of the party, next intra-party elections will be held in 2020. "We are hopeful the election commission will declare the intra-party election arranged by Dr Farooq Sattar void," he told Business Recorder.
Dr Farogh Naseem, however, declined to comment on political future of the MQM-P as a party.
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