Poll results show MQM supporters want Altaf as party chief

72% voted against MQM chief resigning

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) supporters voted against MQM supremo Altaf Hussain stepping down as party chief, a day after he posed the question in a poll on the party's official website .

Earlier on Monday, MQM chief had asked his followers to vote on the party’s website on whether he should step down as the party leader or not.

According to poll results released by the party’s International Secretariat in London on Tuesday, 72% voted against the MQM chief resigning.

Read: ‘Should I step down?’ MQM chief posts poll on website

On the party’s official website, www.mqm.org, Altaf posed this question to the ‘Haq Parast awam’: “To save the party and the people, should I step down from the movement?”

Along with the question, the options of Yes (haan), Never (har giz nahin), and Don’t Know (maloom nahin) have been given.

Altaf claimed that after his address at the party’s convention in the US, the army and the government decided that channels would not air his speeches.

“They have also threatened the MQM and stated if Altaf Hussain resigns from party leadership, they would stop the operation against the Mohajirs,” he said.

Read: ‘Altaf defaming Pakistan and its institutions’

The MQM chief and his party have been of late under scrutiny both within and outside Pakistan. While the money laundering cases against Altaf are being pursued by Scotland Yard, authorities in the country are cooperating with the British police in the murder of former MQM stalwart Imran Farooq.

The party claimed that it also received calls, emails and faxes from MQM supporters, requesting MQM not to step down from the party.