Daily Times

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM-P) leader Farooq Sattar, on Saturday, put forward a major offer before Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif.

During a media talk in Karachi, Sattar maintained that he will withdraw his party candidates against Khan and Sharif if they grant some part of their province’s budget to Karachi.

He said that justice should be served to Karachi before transforming it to Paris. Sattar asked for equal distribution of resources for the port city.

On the occasion, The MQM-P stalwart asserted that he had no role in the ticket selection process. He said that the Rabta Committee and Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui picked candidates for the polls. “I am not a selector. Selector is someone else,” Sattar added. Sattar said that Karachi’s population was understated to deprive it of its due share in the country’s financial resources. He said that the metropolis which generated 60 to 70 per cent of the total revenue got a paltry two per cent in return. “I am the captain but the selector is someone else. I will withdraw from the elections if Rabta Committee asks me for it,” he said. “Our election campaign begins at the end. We work with patience and perseverance. Our voters are organized,” declared Sattar. He went on to say that voter tells about their problems in every election but now it is all caught on camera due to media development.

Earlier on Saturday, the Rabta Committee of MQM-P politely declined on Saturday Farooq Sattar’s plea to withdraw from the General Election 2018. The MQM-P leader along with MQM Bahadurabad faction was addressing media, where party leader Faisal Sabzwari said that Sattar had accepted the committee’s decision.

Sattar had previously revealed that he had excused himself from contesting the election. The MQM-P leader said that he did not aspire to contest the elections. “I have asked the Bahadurabad faction to decide upon the matter,” said Sattar. On June 27, the Bahadurabad faction had finalised a list of the party candidates, following which the MQM-P senior leader said that he had given his list of candidates to party convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. “There should be no quota for Bahadurabad and PIB factions,” he said.

Published in Daily Times, July 1^st 2018.