- PIB, Bahadurabad groups announce five candidates, including Tessori, for elections
- Siddiqui says MQM-P is like family
ISLAMABAD: Putting their difference aside for the Senate polls, the two factions of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) have agreed on five names to be nominated for Saturday’s elections.
MQM-P leader and the head of PIB faction, Dr Farooq Sattar, on Friday held a joint press conference in Islamabad alongside the leader of his party’s Bahadurabad faction, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui to disclose the final names for the polls that included Dr Farogh Naseem and Kamran Tessori for the general seats; Dr Nighat Shakeel and Abdul Qadir Khanzada for the Women’s and Technocrat seats, respectively; and Sanjay Parwani for the minorities seat.
The former MQM-P chief also expressed hope that the MQM-P will win all five seats in the Senate.
Sattar said that even though differences were evident in the statements of both factions, the leaders from both sides were still mediating to resolve the issue through direct contacts and mediators, adding that a breakthrough was made when both sides agreed on the Senate names.
“At least one matter brought unity among us, which is regarding the nomination of candidates for Senate elections,” said the MQM-P leader.
Sattar said he was “certain” that the two camps will reach an agreement about the status of the two coordination committees soon as well in an effort to prevent the party’s vote bank from being divided.
He said the party’s leaders were “embarrassed” and apologise to their voters and workers who had been “mentally stressed” by the conflict between the PIB and Bahadurabad groups.
“It was not a happy occasion for us either that a strain remained between us for so many days,” he said.
However, Sattar remained hopeful for the good days to come. The storm is passed, said the veteran leader while implying that this negotiation was just a first step in the negotiation process which is to be followed by eradication of differences over the Rabita Committee.
Speaking on his turn, Siddiqui said despite the differences in their positions, the things didn’t escalate, as the MQM-P is like one family and it moves ahead like a family. To which Sattar replied: ‘God willing’.
In a question concerning party leader Kamran Tessori—the bone of contention— Siddiqui said that Sattar was not alone in nominating Tessori for the Senate seat but the 35-member Rabita Committee had nominated Tessori with a three-fourths majority. He added that Barrister Naseem was also nominated by the committee in his group with the same majority.
It may be mentioned here that the Rabita Committee based in Bahadurabad and Dr Sattar-led group in PIB Colony had fallen out over the nomination of Senate candidates, particularly Tessori.
Following the incident, both groups had held press conferences, and later the committee removed Sattar from the position of the party convenor, with Sattar dissolving the committee soon afterwards.
