As elections inch closer and parties gear up for it, an important announcement has come from a major political party. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has laid out an ambitious plan to contest the upcoming polls nationwide.
"MQM-P will field candidates from all over the country," said former federal minister and senior MQM-P leader Shabir Ahmed Qaimkhani while talking to [The Friday Times].
"In the first phase, scrutiny [of candidates] from Punjab has started," he said, adding that candidates will be announced in phases.
"We are in contact with candidates. Soon, the names [of ticket holders] will be announced," he said.
This will be the first general elections the MQM-P will contest after its various factions reunited earlier this year.
The MQM suffered from disintegration in the second half of the last decade. First, its supremo, Altaf Hussain, who enjoyed 'veto power' in the party given his position as its founder and decision-maker for all key decisions, was disowned by the party following a controversial anti-state speech.
The party left in Pakistan, severed from its founder in self-exile in London, and reinvented itself as Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).
Then, a major leader in the party, former Karachi Nazim Mustafa Kamal, quit to form the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP). It did little more than dilute the MQM vote during the 2018 elections but did not get enough support to overtake MQM-P.
Later, some major stalwarts left the MQM-P, including long-time convener and de facto head of the party in Pakistan, Farooq Sattar.
But earlier in 2023, the party brought all the factions together ahead of the local government polls in Karachi. It even attracted the renegade faction led by Afaq Ahmed as the party sought to close ranks. Thus, the 2024 elections offer an opportunity for the party to present a united front.
While the MQM-P has announced to focus on Punjab first, political pundits say the party does not have much of a vote bank in Punjab. However, it can muster a few seats based on seat adjustment with major political parties.
Uncertainty on polls
When contacted, senior MQM-P leader Zahid Malik confirmed that there remains uncertainty about the polls.
During a recent meeting, he said that the party had expressed its reservations to the top election regulator, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
He added that they also had reservations about the staff deputed at polling stations on election day, especially in Sindh.
On MQM-P's ambitions for Punjab, the main battleground for elections, Malik conceded that the party never had any representation in Punjab in the past, but now they were hopeful of fielding some 'winning candidates' from their platform and that they will surprise many parties.
History of alliances
Considered to be urban-centric in Sindh, enjoying good support primarily in Karachi and Hyderabad, MQM-P has always sought an alliance with the major party in the province and centre.
Under Altaf Hussains' leadership, the party allied with several rival parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), both in the centre and Sindh. It then moved to ally with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) when it came to power in 2013 in the centre and the PPP in the province.
But after reemerging as MQM-P, it found itself in an alliance with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) in the centre.
After former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan was ousted from government, with the MQM-P playing a crucial role in the vote of no-confidence against him, the MQM-P walked across the aisle to support the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government led by Shehbaz Sharif.