ECP removes Farooq Sattar as MQM-P convener

The Elections Commission of Pakistan removed on Monday Dr Farooq Sattar as Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) convener.

The commission ruled in favour of MQM-P’s Bahadurabad faction in petitions filed against Sattar following a rift owing to Senate election nominees.

Amir Khan-led Bahadurabad faction had filed petitions including the removal of Sattar as convener by two-third majority of the Raabita Committee and replacing him with Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and had challenged February 18 intra-party elections held under the leadership of Sattar an election that he won by a heavy margin, becoming the party convener.

In his reply, Sattar had challenged the commission’s jurisdiction in intra-party matters in his reply to the petitions. He had urged ECP to dismiss applications filed against him.

Sattar maintained that the ECP does not have authority to intervene in intra-party rifts, adding that both the petitions are related to the party’s internal conflicts. The statement had urged the polls supervisory body to resolve the matter according to the party’s constitution.