Amid rising rift, MQM-P’s Shabbir Qaimkhani decides not to contest elections

After being nominated by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) as one of the candidates for elections, Rabita Committee member Shabbir Qaimkhani announced on Wednesday that he is withdrawing his candidacy and was no longer running candidate for Senate.

Qaimkhani said he had been unanimously nominated by the Rabita Committee but MQM-P Chief Dr Farooq Sattar replaced his name with Kamran Tessori, local media reported. "I do not want any Senatorship that has no respect," he said.

Meanwhile, the two factions of MQM-P, one led by Sattar and the other by Amir Khan, will meet at the Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday. Reportedly, both the leaders will submit the nomination papers today, as it is the last day.

Sattar calls another convention as deadlock continues with MQM-P faction

While addressing a press conference at his residence in PIB colony on Wednesday, Sattar said that he was disappointed with Faisal Sabzwari’s press conference that took place earlier. MQM-P chief said that Sabzwari had not waited for him to come despite knowing that he was on his way.

Sattar claimed that Sabzwari conducted the presser without him and used harsh language. Talking to the media on Wednesday, Sabzwari had unveiled the names of their candidates for upcoming senate elections.

Rifts between the two faction began on Monday when Sattar and Khan had an argument  regarding Kamran Tessori. Sattar had wanted to name Tessori in top four by sacrificing two of the top four candidates for the Senate general seats. After the session, without their chief present at the meeting, MQM-P’s top decision-making forum removed Tessori from the coordination committee and suspended him for six months.

Despite efforts by the Rabita Committee to resolve their differences with Sattar, there seems to be no reconciliation between the two factions yet.