Re-induction of Kamran Tessori into MQM-P stirs controversy

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has called a meeting of the party’s coordination committee today (Sunday) to decide the fate of Kamran Tessori who was recently restored as the deputy convener of the party in a move that caused disappointment to many party leaders and workers.

The decision to induct Tessori back into the MQM-P was taken in a meeting held on Friday with MQM-P Convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui in chair. Around 15 members of the coordination committee participated in Friday’s meeting, which was also attended by Tessori.

However, a number of senior party leaders were absent on the occasion and later some of them openly expressed their concerns over the party decision to take Tessori back in its ranks.

Tessori was the primary reason in the conflict between MQM-P head Farooq Sattar and other party leaders, which eventually led to the ouster of Sattar from the party. The MQM-P coordination committee removed Sattar from the convener post as the latter insisted on awarding the party ticket to Tessori in a by-election.

Later, Sattar formed another faction of the party called MQM Restoration Committee.

During Friday’s meeting, Abdul Waseem and Khawaja Izharul Hasan were also elevated as the deputy conveners of the party while Rauf Siddiqui, Dr Sagheer Ahmed, Wasim Aftab, Salim Tajik and Sadiq Iftikhar were added as members of the coordination committee.

MQM-P sources told The News that several senior leaders of the party expressed concerns over the restoration of Tessori as a deputy convener of the party, which eventually forced Dr Siddiqui to call a meeting of all the members of the coordination committee to decide Tessori’s fate.

Sources said that senior party leaders in the meeting would try to appease the unhappy leaders over Tessori’s issue; however, if a consensus was not reached, voting would be held. If a majority of the coordination committee members voted in favour of Tessori, the decision to restore him would be upheld.

On Saturday, Geo News reported that the restoration of Tessori had created rifts within the MQM-P. Those who openly voiced their opposition to the decision included MNA and member of the coordination committee Kishwer Zehra who said that a decision taken by a few people had been imposed on the rest of the members. Another senior member of the MQM-P Dr Shahab Imam decided to tender resignation in protest against the induction of Tessori.

Regarding the rationale behind the decision, some MQM-P sources told The News that the party had been facing a severe financial crisis, due to which a senior leader of the party approached Tessori, who was earlier a financer of the MQM-P, and convinced him to rejoin the party as its deputy convener.

However, this move backfired as it caused disappointment among many leaders and workers who asked the party leadership what was special in Tessori due to which he was directly made as a deputy convener.

An MQM-P leader requesting anonymity said that many in the party considered Tessori loyal to the disgruntled leader Sattar and he still had family terms with him. He added that the conflict over Tessori’s candidature was not the sole reason behind the explusion of Sattar from the party. “Sattar had tried to amend the party’s constitution to vest all the powers in himself,” the MQM-P leader said. When contacted, Sattar denied having contacts with Tessori.