SHC moved against MQM referendum

Altaf Hussain and Farooq Sattar made respondents.

KARACHI: The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan has threatened the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) after it announced that it would hold a referendum on what kind of Pakistan its citizens wanted to live in, but the party may have to face a legal challenge as well.

On Monday, a petition was filed in the Sindh High Court against the MQM’s referendum scheduled to be held on November 8. The respondents include the National Assembly speaker, Senate chairperson, MQM founder and chief Altaf Hussain and MQM Deputy Convener Dr Farooq Sattar.  The Sindh High Court’s division bench is expected to take up the petition on November 7.

According to petitioner Haji Gul, Hussain’s recent directives to MQM members in the parliament and the Sindh Assembly to hold a referendum to ask people whether ‘they wanted the Pakistan of Quaid-a-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah or the Taliban’ was a violation of Articles 5 and 48 of the Constitution, as only the prime minister is empowered to conduct a referendum, after he/she seeks approval from the parliament in its joint session.

Gul stated that the prime minister had not raised the issue of a referendum during the joint session of the parliament nor had it given approval for the proposed referendum.

Haji Gul also pointed out that under the law all members of the provincial or federal parliament were bound to abide by Articles 5 and 48 of the Constitution and violating these would expose them to disqualification.

He also said in the petition that since the MQM chief was a dual national and had sworn to show loyalty to Britain, he cannot lead any political party in Pakistan nor stands eligible to intervene in the affairs of the country.

Gul said that if everyone starts conducting such illegal referendums for personal interest, it will ultimately lead to anarchy in the country. The petitioner stated that such referendums must be stopped and all public representatives taking part in such activity should be declared as having been disqualified.

He prayed to the court to restrain the respondents from holding the referendum. He also moved a miscellaneous application, asking for an interim injunction against the referendum until the final disposal of the petition.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2012.