KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Deputy Convener Dr Farooq Sattar said that liberal parties in the country, including the MQM, are being targeted to pave way for right-wing parties to come out on top in the elections.

He was addressing a gathering at MQM headquarters Nine-Zero in Karachi commemorating the loss of party workers killed in Thursday’s blast in the city. The party had called for a day of mourning on Friday (today) across the city to condemn the blast.

“Through pre-poll rigging, a stage is being prepared to pave way for right-wing and centre-right parties to help them hold election campaigns and then win the elections bringing in their form of democracy,” said Sattar.

“Liberal parties, like the MQM, which want the liberal, democratic Pakistan envisioned by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, are being kept out of the elections,” he added.

Sattar also said that the terrorism incidents indicate that either the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has failed in improving the law and order situation, or it is not eligible for the job.

“I ask the election commission, can it hold free, fair and impartial elections in such a scenario?” questioned Sattar.

The party leader also reiterated his party’s resolve to take part in the elections despite being targeted.

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) declared they will not boycott the upcoming polls “despite being constantly targeted by criminal elements,” said the party’s Deputy Convener Dr Farooq Sattar on Friday.

“The killing of MQM leaders, workers and supporters at the hands of armed terrorists has become an everyday occurrence. No day goes by when we do not attend a funeral of a party worker of supporter,” Sattar said.

The party leader added that all political and religious parties of the country are busy with their election campaigns while the MQM is busy lifting bodies of its workers and supporters.

He said that this was an organised conspiracy against the MQM to stop the party from fully participating in the elections by “cornering it and snatching away some seats from the party”.

Sattar said that the MQM election candidates, workers and supporters were being killed so that the party can be forced to boycott the elections.

“This can be noted from the press conference of Jamaat-i-Islami’s (JI) ameer Munawar Hasan who said that the JI will not boycott elections, but other parties will boycott them,” he added.

According to Sattar, the first chapter of this conspiracy was the “unconstitutional and unlawful” delimitation of Karachi and the second chapter was carrying raids and door-to-door operations in 20 areas of the city harassing people and pushing them away from the election campaigns.

The MQM leader said that they will announce their consolidated list of electoral candidates and formally kick off their election campaign from Saturday, April 20, 2013.

KARACHI: A Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) delegation headed by Mushahid Hussain Syed visited Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) headquarters in Karachi, Nine Zero, on Sunday.

The PML-Q delegation had brought a message from their party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain for MQM chief Altaf Hussain.

Both parties exchanged their manifestos during the meeting and discussed several national issues facing Pakistan.

“The approaches [of both the parties] regarding national issues are the same in our manifestoes,” said MQM Deputy Convener Dr Farooq Sattar while speaking to the media after the meeting.

He said that the parties will continue to remain in contact with each other in the future to solve all issues of the country.

“We believe that the political brotherhood of the country should come together to take Pakistan out of the crisis,” Sattar said.

Sattar added that his party has also informed the PML-Q delegation of a conspiracy against MQM and the threats being received by banned extremist organisations.

Mushahid Hussain said that the PML-Q has had a strong relationship with the MQM before the elections, and will maintain it during and after the elections as well.

Former president Pervez Musharraf might not have many fans on the traditional media front, but he has outgunned all local political figures including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan when it comes to Facebook.

Keeping the page more personal and less official, Musharraf currently has over 800,000 likes and over 200,000 ‘talking about this’ (a metric that gauges user engagement levels) on his official Facebook page.

The number of likes exceed those on Imran Khan’s official page which has 688,416 likes and over 70,000 ‘talking about this’.

Musharraf’s page gained momentum when the former dictator announced a “grand” return to Pakistan, ending his self-imposed exile. Photographs — apparently taken from cell phone cameras — have kept Musharraf’s followers updated and entertained with his activities.

The engaging Facebook updates began on March 24 when Musharraf shared a Photoshopped image of his arrival at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.

I will arrive in Karachi today, March 24th 2013, at 1pm and address a public rally at the airport at 5pm in the evening. PM

Musharraf then shared a picture of himself leaving his home in Dubai for the airport.

Leaving my house in Dubai to begin my journey home

For those who still did not believe Musharraf was returning, the former dictator shared a picture of himself sitting in the plane destined for Karachi.

Settled in my seat on the plane to begin my journey home. Pakistan First!

This was only the beginning. Musharraf went on a picture-sharing spree covering every event and activity he undertook — including some very offbeat choices. In the photo share below, Musharraf made light of Taliban threats against him.

Taliban threat? NOT ON MY WATCH!!!

On the morning of March 28 (today), the former dictator did not forget his obligation to share a “Good Morning” picture with his followers.

Starting my day with a workout. Feel very energized.

While Musharraf’s political future remains questionable, the leader’s online ‘charisma’ will ensure high levels of engagement for some time to come.

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan blamed the federal government for providing “safe haven” to terrorists responsible for the rising sectarian violence in the country.

Imran, speaking to the media on Monday, vowed that his party will eradicate terrorism when it comes into power.

“These people are destroying our country,” he said.

“The federal government is responsible. [President] Asif Zardari does not have the time to see what is happening in the country. The provincial [Punjab] government only wants to win elections so they can build a new sugar mill,” Imran added.

“In five years, nothing has improved, except their bank accounts.”

Maintaining that there can be no future of the country if terrorism is not controlled, Imran said, “The people of Karachi should not vote for parties with militant, terrorist wings.”

LAHORE: Minhajul Quran International (MQI) chief Tahirul Qadri announced on Tuesday that he will visit Canada for a week for “routine checkups”.

“The dates of all my medical checkups were spread over several weeks, but I had them consolidated in one week to shorten my trip,” he said while speaking to the media in Lahore.

He added that he will depart on Wednesday or Thursday and will return by March 10.

The party chief had filed a petition in the Supreme Court calling for reconstitution of the election commission. The petition was dismissed after the apex court questioned Qadri about his dual nationality.

Qadri, maintaining that voters are allowed to hold dual nationalities, had refused to give up his Canadian nationality.

Parliamentary board

Qadri announced that his party Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) has formed a parliamentary board for candidates interested in participating in elections.

He asked the interested candidates to submit their applications to the board ahead of the party rally on March 17 in Rawalpindi where the final decisions will be announced.

The party chief had earlier said that he will tell the nation in his Rawalpindi rally whether to vote in an election or pursue a revolution. “My final contest will be on March 17 in Rawalpindi’s Liaqat Bagh,” he told a gathering in Multan last week.

During the rally, he had also presented what he called a 10-point national agenda “for progress and prosperity” of the people of Pakistan.

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif said that the ongoing ‘war’ between the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and former coalition partner Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) could be fake.

Nawaz, speaking to the media in Lahore on Sunday, suggested that it is possible that the two parties are ‘fighting’ because the provincial assemblies are about to be dissolved, and a caretaker chief minister is to be elected by the government — the PPP — and the opposition, now led by the MQM.

“Why did the MQM not leave the government three or four years back? Why do it 15 days prior [to dissolution of assemblies]?” he questioned.

Nawaz said that everyone knows what public opinion is about the MQM’s exit from the government and everything will be clear once the government and opposition sit together for talks on a caretaker setup.

The PML-N leader said that the PPP and the MQM distributed sweets and congratulated everyone when the Sindh Peoples Local Government Ordinance (SPLGO) was passed, but the PPP celebrated again when the ordinance was repealed.

“Which decision was right?” he asked.

The Sindh Peoples Local Government Act (SPLGA), which was passed by the Sindh Assembly on October 1, 2012, had been a major source of contention between the PPP-led coalition government and various nationalist groups in Sindh.

The ordinance was prepared after strong negotiations between the PPP and the MQM.

The government repealed the act on February 21, after which the MQM held protests and quit the coalition government to sit on opposition benches.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by Minhajul Quran International (MQI) chief Tahirul Qadri for reconstitution of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday, reported Express News.

In its short order, the three-member bench maintained that Qadri failed in proving the eligibility of his petition. The court also stated that Qadri cannot run for elections.

During the hearing, the bench questioned Qadri’s loyalty under Queen Elizabeth’s oath. To this, Qadri addressed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry saying that if the CJ’s loyalty cannot be termed suspicious for his PCO oath, then his oath under Queen Elizabeth cannot be questioned either.

The chief justice remarked that Qadri should know that former dictator Pervez Musharraf was the president in 2005 and every chief justice takes oath under the president.

Irked by Qadri’s response, the bench warned him that the hearing of his petition will be adjourned indefinitely if he addresses the bench in such a manner. Qadri was then requested to step down from the rostrum.

The bench then questioned the attorney general regarding the eligibility of Qadri’s petition. The attorney general advised the bench to focus on the petition instead of his character.

The lawyer, representing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), told the bench that Qadri had called for delaying the elections for two years during his rally in Lahore on December 23.

When Qadri denied giving any such statement, the court ordered for the recording of his Lahore rally to be presented to the court.

‘Petition not heard’

Qadri complained that the apex court kept questioning him about his dual nationality for three days of the hearing rather than focusing on the main petition. He was speaking to the media outside the Supreme Court.

“This is on record. There was no hearing held for the appointment of ECP members. The court should have called the parliamentary committee members and asked for the minutes of their meeting. All of this would have proved that the constitution of the election commission was unconstitutional,” Qadri said while explaining his petition.

“With due respect to the judiciary, I want to tell the people the truth. They did not even let me read out a single word from my petition. When I started reading it out yesterday, they did not listen to me and asked me about my dual nationality instead,” he added.

Qadri also said that he became furious when the court attacked all dual nationals. “There are millions of Pakistanis who are loyal to Pakistan and are dual nationals. They add billions of rupees to Pakistan’s economy… Their loyalty was questioned.”

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court asked Minhajul Quran International (MQI) chief Tahirul Qadri to explain the legitimacy of his petition which called for the reconstitution of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), reported Express News on Monday.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, hearing the petition, questioned Qadri about his Canadian nationality and remarked how a person can be a Pakistani citizen if he cannot be a parliamentarian owing to his dual nationalities.

The chief justice also asked Qadri to read out his Canadian citizenship oath, but the MQI chief said that he had not brought a copy of the oath to court.

The chief justice then himself read out the oath and said if he (CJ) swore his allegiance to Queen Elizabeth he would not sit on the seat of chief justice then, as he has no (morality) to question the country’s institutions after showing allegiance to another country.

Qadri, speaking to the media after the hearing, argued that according to sub-section three of Article 14, Pakistani citizens are allowed to hold nationality of another country as well. “But there is a notification which names the countries whose citizenship can be taken up by Pakistani citizens. The notification was not present in the court today, so the argument on it will begin tomorrow,” he said.

He explained his stance further by saying that it is only wrong for the elected representatives to hold dual nationalities but not for the voter.

The hearing of the case was adjourned till Tuesday (tomorrow).

In his petition, Qadri has claimed that mandatory hearing was not held before the chief election commissioner and other members of the ECP were appointed and thus, the commission should be reconstituted.

ISLAMABAD: Minhajul Quran International (MQI) chief Tahirul Qadri filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Thursday for the reconstitution of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Qadri said that he will contest the petition himself.

“I prayed to the court that the composition and constitution of the current Election Commission of Pakistan was unconstitutional. Therefore, it is void according to the law,” Qadri told the media, calling for the court to order the reconstitution of the commission.

Qadri argued that Article 218 of the Constitution defines the composition and constitution of the election commission and stated that the commission should have five members, including one chief election commissioner. “This article categorically states that the appointment of these five members should be done according to Article 213.

“Article 213 states that the prime minister, who is leader of the House, and the leader of opposition should propose three names for every post of election commission and then send the total 15 names to a parliamentary committee,” Qadri detailed.

The parliamentary committee, based on 50 per cent government representatives and 50 per cent opposition representatives should call for a public hearing to debate the 15 names received, Qadri added.

“The committee should call the nominees for each post one by one and then confirm one name for each post after a hearing. But the parliamentary committee members did ‘muk muka’ on names and did not call a hearing for any nominee. They confirmed the names and the president appointed them,” Qadri said.

He claimed that the current ECP has, therefore, no legal status.