“Will not work with Amir Khan”, says Farooq Sattar

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) senior leader Farooq Sattar says that he is ready to work along with the Rabita Committee if Amir Khan is not a part of it.

While Addressing the Media, Farooq Sattar openly disclosed his disagreement with fellow party leader Amir Khan, said that prior to this on two occasions there have been conflicts between the two and that he cannot work with Amir anymore.

He further added that his authority in the past has been a façade just like what Khalid Maqbool has been restored to. In reality, Amir Khan has been running things his way for a long time.

He further stated that he is ready to work for MQM-P only if his condition is met. “I am ready to accept the entire Rabita Committee but my only condition is that Bahadurabad [faction] chooses between me and Amir Khan.”

Sattar gave an ultimatum saying “Now, either I will remain a part of MQM or Amir Khan.”

Prior to this, there have been many accounts where the rift between the senior leaders has been witnessed. The dispute between party members over nominations for the upcoming elections had resulted in some extreme parting of ways as the group divided between Dr Farooq Sattar led PIB Colony faction and the Bahadurabad faction leadership consisting of Amir Khan, Nasreen Jalil, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and others.

Sattar after securing 9,433 votes an intra-party poll was elected his faction’s head on March 26. The situation further aggravated after the Bahadurabad group filed a petition challenging the intra-party elections held by Sattar.

Earlier he was deposed by the Rabita Committee on February 11.

A five-member bench of the ECP, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, on March 26 had ruled that Sattar could no longer serve as the convener of MQM-P.

The bench also dismissed Sattar’s petition challenging the jurisdiction of ECP in the case and nullified the intra-party elections of MQM, and Sattar as the party chief.