MQM-H chief Afaq Ahmed resigns after election defeat

Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) chief Afaq Ahmed has resigned from the party’s chairmanship following defeat in the July 25 general elections.

Addressing a press conference at his residence on Friday, Afaq Ahmed said he had accepted responsibility for the party’s defeat in the elections and had decided to step down as chairman.

During the press conference, party workers strongly opposed the decision and chanted slogans urging Afaq to rethink his decision. “I will not change my decision; the party needs a new leadership. Workers will soon be convened to choose a new leader,” he maintained.

Afaq, whose party did not win a single seat in the centre or the province, said that as a political worker he would continue his struggle for Muhajir rights till his last breath.

He received just over 14,000 votes to come fifth in the race for NA-240, according to preliminary results. “I had already warned all the Muhajir nationalist parties that Karachi was going out of their hands but my warnings were ignored,” he lamented.

In the days leading up to the elections, Afaq called out Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for showing concern for Karachi when the elections were just around the corner. With reference to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), he claimed that PPP can never become ‘a party of Muhajirs.’

Afaq was one of the founding members of MQM but parted ways in the early 1990s. He then formed MQM-H with another dissenter Amir Khan in 1992. While the two spent years in jail after being arrested in 2004, Afaq rejoined Altaf-led MQM bloc and became an influential personality in the post-Altaf MQM-Pakistan.