‘MQM-P won’t stoop to horse-trading in Senate polls’

Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui has said his faction would ensure that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) does not stoop to horse-trading in the upcoming Senate elections.

Siddiqui and other leaders of his group visited the Shuhada (martyrs) graveyard in Yasinabad on Wednesday to offer Fateha at the graves of the party’s first chairman, Azeem Ahmed Tariq, and first convener, Imran Farooq, among others.

Siddiqui was appointed convener of the MQM-P, replacing Farooq Sattar, by the Bahadurabad faction, which is spearheaded by Amir Khan, after a disagreement between the two groups within the party escalated, with each side claiming to strip the other of powers.

Talking to the media after visiting the graveyard, Siddiqui said it was a tradition of the party to pay homage to their fallen comrades after assuming responsibilities in the “movement”. “MQM has rendered remarkable sacrifices in its struggle for rights that are matchless in Pakistan’s history,” he remarked, vowing that their blood would not go in vain and the party would never forget the goal.

The MQM-P is faced with a crisis since the disagreement between Sattar’s and Khan’s groups over the nomination of businessman Kamran Tessori for the Senate elections led the party to split into two. The party’s available strength for the upper house polls has reduced to 37, and that too remains divided.

Commenting on the situation, Siddiqui said the MQM seats in the Senate were not going anywhere, adding that the workers and supporters of the party who were confused by their tug of war would soon hear “good news”.

Meanwhile, the Sattar-led PIB faction has decided to plead their case before the Election Commission of Pakistan against their rival group’s decisions. The former convener maintains that the Bahadurabad group has no legal status.

But the Bahadurabad faction continues its attempts to reconcile the matter through talks on the pretext that it was favourable for both of them this way. Several party leaders whom both sides respect – Syed Sardar Ahmed to name one – have called on Sattar to appease him.