KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM-P) Sunday held intra-party elections after a disagreement between two groups in the party over Senate election nominations led to a rift between the Farooq Sattar-led faction based in Karachi’s PIB Colony and the Bahadurabad faction. The Rabita Commitee-led faction headquartered in Bahadurabad had strongly opposed to the nomination of Kamran Tessori, a favoured candidate of Sattar’s, who was perceived as a newcomer by many of the party’s old guard. After a few failed rounds of talks between both groups, it appeared that the Rabita Commitee’s (Coordination Committee) request to remove Tessori’s name from the list of nominations was not accommodated by Sattar, even after the committee had abdicated its right to nominate senators completely for the sake of maintaining unity in the party. The committee subsequently removed Sattar from his position as party convener, shortly after which Sattar announced the dissolution of the committee and called fresh intra-party polls to determine the party’s new leader. Polling to elect members of the new Rabita Committee and Central Executive Council took place at Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Ground. Sattar, in a video statement, said that the elections were being held at the KMC Ground in Karachi’s PIB Colony area and at the MQM’s Hyderabad Zonal Office. He appealed to all workers from Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Nawabshah, Mirpurkhas, Dadu, Badin, Thatta, Khairpur, Shikarpur, Gotki to come forward and participate in the elections. “The rift in the party can only be resolved with these elections. Just like the party was saved on August 23, the February 18 intra-party elections will rescue the party,” he said, referring to the party’s 2016 split from its London office after founder Altaf Hussain made incendiary anti-Pakistan statements. “I have an unblemished 35-year-long political career. I put this fact before you and ask you to place your trust in me. I will not disappoint you. We will be ready for the 2018 general election, we will mend this rift between the party and will never look back. We will win back all our seats with pride and honour,” he claimed. MQM-P’s Kamran Tessori while speaking to journalists in Islamabad on Sunday said: “I’ve paid a visit to the shrine of Bari Imam Sahab and prayed that the crisis is averted and some concrete solution emerges soon.” “It’s our leader Dr Farooq Sattar’s primary wish that the party and its workers not remain divided. The intra-party elections are taking place today in Karachi, Hyderabad and interior Punjab and Sindh. It will be proven whether this party is a party of the workers or of those who shove the manifesto and constitution in our faces.” Published in Daily Times, February 19th 2018.