Daily Times

KARACHI: Ousted Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM) convener Farooq Sattar on Monday said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has disqualified him for standing up to Altaf Hussain.

“I have been punished for standing up to MQM founder Altaf Hussain and standing up for the constitution and law of Pakistan,” Farooq Sattar said while addressing a press conference in Karachi.

Continuing his speech, Sattar termed the ECP decision as a ‘black page’ in the country’s history. He added that matters concerning party internal disputes are not taken into consideration by the ECP and are resolved in the courts.

“To decide such matters, a comprehensive procedure is adopted by the courts in which hearings are conducts and witness statements are records. ECP does not give verdicts on such matters. The decision to oust me is managed from elsewhere,” Sattar said.

Sattar also criticised Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (r) Sardar Muhammad Raza for giving an ‘unconstitutional and unlawful’ verdict, adding that ‘such verdicts are quoted in history books for all the wrong reasons’.

He further said that a ‘conspiracy’ is being hatched against MQM-P in order to divide the party and oust it from power during the general elections in 2018.

Farooq Sattar ousted from convenership

Read full story: CEC dismisses Farooq Sattar from party convener-ship

A five-member bench, headed by Justice Sardar, conducted proceedings of the MQM convener-ship case against Sattar. The court dismissed Sattar of his post and annulled intraparty elections of MQM-PIB wing.

Sattar had earlier filed a plea, challenging Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) jurisdiction, stating the issue was party’s problem to which the answer lied within the party laws. He said that the ECP’s responsibility was to arrange elections at different government platforms, not to interfere in party issues.

Leader of MQM-P Kamran Tessori said that appropriate measures will be taken to resolve the issue and respect ECP’s verdict.