KARACHI: The (MQM-P) Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan has finalised MPA Faisal Sabzwari from Sindh on the general seat and Khalida Ateeb on a reserved seat for women for the upcoming Senate polls to be held on March 3.
The party’s Rabita Committee meeting decided the candidates.
Sabzwari is the party’s central leader and served as a provincial minister, while Ateeb is a senior member of the party. She took part in the general election from PS-87 (District Malir).
On Monday the development came after the Election Tribunal disqualified Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan leader Rauf Siddiqui from contesting the Senate elections on a general seat.
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The election tribunal also rejected the appeal of MQM-P’s Khizar Zaidi for the technocrat seat in the Senate elections and upheld the returning officer’s decision to reject his nomination papers.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) previously known as Muhajir Qaumi Movement, is a secular political party in Pakistan that was founded by Altaf Hussain in 1984. Currently the party is split between 2 main factions.
MQM-London faction is controlled by Altaf Hussain from London, while MQM-Pakistan is run by Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui based in Pakistan, its electoral symbol is a kite.
It was founded as a student organization, All Pakistan Muhajir Student Organization (APMSO), in 1978 by Altaf Hussain. APMSO gave birth to the Muhajir Qaumi Movement in 1984.
In 1997, the MQM removed the term Muhajir (that denotes the party roots among the country’s Urdu-speaking community) from its name and replaced it with Muttahida (“United”). The MQM is generally known as a party that holds strong mobilizing potential in Karachi, having traditionally been the dominant political force in the city.