PHOTO: FILE
The MQM Karachi leaders revealed the proposed changes at a press conference, hours after senior leader Wasay Jalil reacted against their decision to move a National Assembly resolution to condemn Altaf’s anti-Pakistan remarks of August 22.
Dr Farooq Sattar, who wants to be called the MQM-Pakistan chief, announced the decision taken by the party’s Central Coordination Committee to omit Article 9(b) and substitute Article 7(b) in the constitution.
The now-omitted Article 9(b) read: “The Central Coordination Committee shall seek guidance from Altaf Hussain, being the founder and ideologue, on the major issues for his ratification.”
The MQM founder now has no legitimate power or authority to take decisions or interfere in the party’s affairs.
The second change relates to the detachment from the London leadership, ie, MQM Convener Nadeem Nusrat. The party has substituted Article 7(b) while defining the role of senior deputy conveners in the absence of the convener.
The clause after substitution reads that in the absence of the convener from Pakistan, the most senior among the senior deputy conveners present in the country shall preside over all the coordination committee meetings and shall also act as the party leader.
These amendments are a practical implementation of what Sattar had said in his August 23 press conference, paving the way for the MQM-Pakistan to operate without taking on board its chief and the London leadership.
For complete disassociation with Altaf, Sattar clarified, these amendments were necessary. “Our decisions, our policies are independent of that of London’s. We are sovereign and we have drawn a line between us,” he added.
The MQM-Pakistan chief again tried to clear the air by asserting that neither were they in contact with London leaders nor with the country’s establishment.
He also announced the induction of four more leaders in the MQM Coordination Committee namely Syed Sardar Ahmed, Khalid Maqbool, Khawaja Sohail Mansoor and Rauf Siddiqui. The panel now has 27 members with two of them senior deputy conveners and three deputy conveners.
Amir Khan is the second senior most person after Sattar in the new MQM structure.
Talking about the enforced disappearance and extrajudicial murders of MQM workers, Sattar said the government must make a monitoring committee to oversee the ongoing Karachi operation and to look into the wrongdoings. He termed the matter of missing MQM workers as important as making changes in the party’s constitution.
The self-proclaimed leader also asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to tell the nation who was making the decisions about his party workers.
“In the current circumstances, it feels the problem is not only with the statement of the party founder but there is some behind-the-scene political problem as well,” said Sattar, who was flanked by Amir and Khawaja Izharul Hassan at the presser.
The gulf between the MQM London and Karachi leaders had become evident earlier in the day when MQM London spokesperson Wasay Jalil tweeted that the party would not accept any moves against Altaf.
His reaction apparently came against MQM lawmaker Khalid Maqbool’s announcement that the party would table a resolution in parliament to condemn its own founder’s anti-Pakistan remarks.
“There will be a resolution. It has been decided. But still the contents of it are not finalised,” Khalid told The Express Tribune before leaving for Islamabad.
Apparently unhappy with the decision, Wasay took to Twitter, saying the “minus-one formula” was not acceptable. “We will not accept minus-one formula on Altaf Hussain. Altaf Hussain is MQM and MQM is Altaf Hussain. We will not accept any resolution in NA,” he tweeted.
After days of confusing silence, the tweet has emerged as a clear indicator of the rift within the MQM ranks over sidelining the party’s supreme leader.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2016.
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