Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani on Thursday rejected a reference filed by Molvi Iqbal Haider, seeking disqualification of senators belonging to Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). "Chairman Senate has observed that cogent grounds are available to reject the reference received in the Senate Secretariat on September 29," said a statement issued by Senate Secretariat.
Molvi Iqbal Haider had filed a reference with Senate, in which, he had demanded chairman Senate to disqualify the member of MQM lawmakers in Senate and send their disqualification reference to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Iqbal Haider, who is a habitual petitioner, had taken the plea that all the senators of MQM had been elected on Altaf Hussain's name, therefore, they all should be declared ineligible.
MQM Senator Colonel Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi (r) lauded the decision of chairman Senate, saying the reference filed by Haider carried no weight. He said that Iqbal Haider is a habitual petitioner who often resorts to such 'cheap tactics' for publicity. "He [Haider] also approached Sindh High Court (SHC) with a similar petition against MQM lawmakers and some other forums but had to face humiliation everywhere as there is no weight in whatever he says against elected people," he added.