Sattar proposes new names as impasse persists

• Salman Mujahid joins MQM-P, accuses Amir Khan-led group of conspiring against party chief

• Rabita Committee retracts letter to ECP against Sattar that sought curtailment of latter’s powers

• Teary-eyed Amir Khan says attempts are being made to create an impression that he is trying to hijack MQM-P

KARACHI: In order to put an end to the controversy engulfing the party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Convenor Dr Farooq Sattar on Saturday offered the party’s Rabita Committee to draft “a new list of four mutually agreed upon candidates from the total of 15 candidates”.

Speaking to reporters outside his residence in the PIB Colony, Dr Sattar said that if the committee accepts his offer then he would have no reservations visiting the party’s temporary headquarters in Bahadurabad — a stronghold of the rebellious Rabita Committee members.

He said that if four new names can be agreed upon between the “PIB and Bahadurabad, then I will take the first flight to Bahadurbad”.

In a last-ditch effort to save the party from further drifting in chaos, the party chief said: “If we can’t even do that [agree on a new list of Senate candidates], then I would advise that let’s forget Senate seats and save the party.”

“My utmost effort is aimed towards stopping this party from splitting. We cannot let 40 years of efforts go to waste,” said Sattar, as he vowed to save the party.

Backtracking from his earlier stance on the nomination of Kamran Tessori, Dr Sattar said that “we will drop the names of whoever is controversial” if the committee accepts his offer. He went on to add that the issue was never about Tessori, it was beyond that.

It may be mentioned here the tacit rebellion against Sattar in the MQM-P took an ugly turn when Amir Khan-led Rabita Committee group decided to remove Tessori from the Senate candidates, prompting the party chief to left the Bahadaurabad and calling a late night meeting and a presser at his residence.

ECP LETTER WITHDRAWN:

In an apparent attempt to appease Sattar, the Rabita Committee retracted its letter that sought curtailment of Sattar’s powers as party chief by sidelining him in the process of choosing Senate candidates.

The letter was written by the coordination committee asking the ECP not to entertain the nominations submitted by Sattar, claiming that it was the committee’s privilege to do so.

The move, however, failed when the ECP ruled in Sattar’s favour, saying that nominating candidates for the Senate elections is the sole right of a party chief or of a person nominated by the chief.

MQM-P leader and MNA Kunwar Naveed Jamil told media that Sattar objected to the coordination committee’s letter and sent a message that he would visit the party’s Bahadurabad centre if that letter is retracted.

Announcing the retraction of the letter, Jamil said that a delegation of the coordination committee will pay Sattar a visit at his residence in the PIB Colony.

AMIR KHAN DENIES ‘HIJACKING’ PARTY:

In the evening, Senior Deputy Convener Amir Khan said that attempts were being made to give an impression that he was trying to hijack the party, as he refuted rumours about him eyeing a “prominent position” in the party.

“I am happy to work as a party member…I have never wanted to have a position in the party,” he said, adding: “You don’t get respect from positions.”

“Attempts are being made to create an impression that I am trying to hijack the party,” a teary Khan told the journalists, adding that [some] people were also trying to create an impression that there was a rift between Sattar and him.

SLAMAN MUJAHID JOINS MQM-P, AGAIN:

A good news for Sattar as MNA Salman Mujahid Baloch once again joined the MQM-P, nearly two months after he joined the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP).

Baloch rejoined the MQM-P after a meeting with party chief Farooq Sattar, at a time when the party is experiencing an impasse between the two groups led by Deputy Convenor Amir Khan and Convenor Farooq Sattar.

Speaking to reporters, Baloch said that it was impossible for him to stay away from the party when it was marred with internal conflicts. He claimed that a group of people was hatching a conspiracy against the party and urged party workers to “come forward to save the party”.

Baloch accused Amir Khan-led group of hatching “conspiracy against the party chief”, as he went on to add that Sattar was an honest person, and that a minus one conspiracy was underway to remove him from the party’s leadership.

It may be mentioned here Baloch was the first person to divulge the presence of two factions within the MQM-P during a TV show after he was expelled from the party due to disciplinary issues.

He had told the outlet that Farooq Sattar and Amir Khan were heading their separate groups within the party.

‘MQM-P INFIGHTING DISHEARTENING ACTIVISTS’

 Meanwhile, MQM-P MPA Khawaja Izharul Hassan said that infighting in the party is disheartening the activists, particularly for those in jails.

Addressing a press conference here, the MQM-P MPA admitted that mistrust between the two groups exists and efforts are being made to reunite the groups. Taking exception to defiant Amir-led group’s objections, the MPA said the residence of Dr Farooq Sattar had previously been used temporarily as the party office.

“I have offered my resignation [from the provincial assembly] as a member of an intermediary committee to bring the two groups on the negotiation table,” he said. Flanked by another party leader Rauf Siddiqui, Hassan said if the impasse didn’t resolve, it wouldn’t be deemed a matter of principle.

START OF TROUBLE:

Rumours of a split in the party were rife after Sattar abruptly left a party meeting on February 5 over a disagreement on nominations of Senate candidates with senior party leader and deputy convener Amir Khan.

Sattar’s blue-eyed party leader, Kamran Tessori, was removed from the list by the Rabita Committee after which Sattar had abruptly left the meeting and called a subsequent meeting of the party workers and leaders at his residence in the PIB.

Following the open revolt against the party chief, MQM-P Rabita Committee in late night presser had also suspended Kamran Tessori from the party for six months and also removed him from the committee.

Sattar had taken this as insolence and told reporters in a late presser that Amir Khan-group wanted to take over the party from him. He also complained that he cannot accept being treated as the ceremonial head of the party.

After the pressers of the Rabia Committee and Dr Sattar, a reconciliation committee was constituted to defuse the tensions within the party ranks.

Sattar has often been criticised for favouring Tessori over seasoned party leaders and workers. A jeweller-turned politician, Kamran Tessori, swiftly rose to the higher ranks of the party and he was made a deputy convenor of the party only after a year of his induction.

Sattar had also given Tessori a ticket to contest a by-election on a Sindh Assembly seat (PS-114).