KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) spearhead Farooq Sattar on Friday made an offer of reconciliation with party’s Bahadurabad faction by withdrawing from his powers to nominate Senate candidates.
Speaking to the media, Sattar said that the party has offered Bahadurabad faction to nominate four names for Senate elections and that the party would ‘accept those names without any comment’.
“After days of consultations, we have decided to offer those in Bahadurabad that they can submit their four names for Senate nominations and we will accept those,” said Sattar.
Farooq added that the decision to allow Bahadurabad faction to nominate four candidates was only made to save the party from disintegration. He, however, reiterated that the dispute was not regarding Senate elections but about ‘something else’.
Differences emerged between MQM-P leadership over awarding ticket for Senate polls to jeweller-turned-politician Kamran Tessori earlier this month. Resultantly, Farooq Sattar-led group and the other group with most of the Rabita Committee members in it fielded their separate candidates.
The rift intensified after Rabita Committee wrote a letter to the ECP in an attempt to wrestle authority from Sattar. The letter informed ECP that the authority to issue party tickets rested with the committee, not the party convener.
During a news conference, MQM-P leader Faisal Sabzwari said Sattar remained the party chief but all the authority rested with the Rabita Committee. When asked about the decision to write a letter to the ECP, Sabzwari responded, “This decision was taken when we were unable to meet Farooq bhai at his residence.”