Although the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan staged a show of strength on Sunday — 10 days after winning the local government by-election in Karachi’s six union committees — in a bid to prove that it is still a force to reckon with, the question remains: is the participation of a good number of people in the rally and the mandate it got in the latest by-polls an endorsement of its minus-Altaf Hussain politics?

The MQM-P, which had dissociated itself from party founder Altaf and his London office following his Aug 22, 2016 incendiary speech, took out a rally from Liaquatabad No. 10 to Mazar-i-Quaid against the ‘poor governance’ of the Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government.

On April 13, the party had won the by-election on six vacant seats in Karachi and one each in Sukkur and Mirpurkhas against its traditional rivals like Jamaat-i-Islami and the PPP with an impressive margin.

But what set alarm bells ringing in the quarters concerned was its defeat in a Hyderabad union committee by-election against none other than an independent “Wafa Parast” candidate who was backed by the MQM-London.

As none of the winning MQM-P candidates faced any other “Wafa Parast” contestant in Karachi, Sukkur and Mirpurkhas, the defeat in Hyderabad has put a question mark on its claim that its vote bank is still intact despite parting ways with Mr Hussain.

Since Aug 23, 2016 — the day when Dr Farooq Sattar took control of the party as soon as he was released from Rangers’ custody — the MQM-P leadership, unlike the Mustafa Kamal-led Pak Sarzameen Party, has shied away from publicly bashing Mr Hussain.

Despite heaping scorn on certain London-based loyalists of Altaf Hussain, MQM-P leader Aamir Khan recently chose not to name Mr Hussain when he gave the example of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto at a workers’ convention last month, saying that she returned to the country to live among her people despite threats to her life.

‘State of confusion’

Recently, former Sindh governor Dr Ishratul Ibad told a television programme about a state of confusion among the Urdu-speaking people as a perception exists about support to Dr Sattar from London.

And not a single word was spoken against the MQM founder by any of the MQM-P leaders during the recent election campaign in Landhi, Korangi, Shah Faisal Colony and Lines Area of Karachi and Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Sukkur despite the fact that Mr Hussain, in his several audio and video messages, was frequently labelling those who parted ways with him as “traitors”.

Some of the MQM-P leaders even adopted an apologetic tone and informed their constituents during their door-to-door campaign that they were forced to part ways with Mr Hussain.

And in Sunday’s rally, no slogan was raised against the MQM founder and no leader said a word against him in his speech despite the fact that Mr Hussain’s loyalists made their way to the rally at some spots and shouted pro-Altaf slogans.

MQM-P spokesman Aminul Haq evaded a direct reply when asked whether the success in the April 13 by-elections and participation of a large number of people in Sunday’s rally was an endorsement of his party’s minus-Altaf politics. When pressed, he said: “After Aug 22, the MQM-Pakistan has completely disconnected itself from London and holding of a massive rally on April 23 and the success in the April 13 by-election is the endorsement of this disconnect.”

‘Misled friends’

He said that those who shouted “pro-London slogans” in Sunday’s rally were “our misled friends” and “we are trying to convince them”. However, he said that there might also be some miscreants who tried to sabotage the successful event.

About the defeat in Hyderabad, where the MQM-P got support of the city mayor and all elected representatives, Mr Haq said the party accepted its defeat and it was because of its weak organisational structure there.

Background conversation with various MQM-P leaders suggested that the party had a realisation that it may lose an election even from their stronghold, Karachi’s Central district, if they start bashing Mr Hussain.

MQM-Pakistan got votes “not because of betraying Altaf bhai” but because the people of Karachi believe that the party had no other option, said an MQM-P lawmaker, asking not to be named.

MQM-L dismissive

But the MQM-London is not ready to give any importance to the electoral dominance of the MQM-P against other parties. It believed that the Dr Sattar-led group bagged the “anti-Mohajir” votes as the low turnout clearly showed that the pro-Altaf voters did not come out of their houses in April 13 by-polls.

London-based MQM leader Wasay Jalil, a close confidant of Mr Hussain, said his party did not participate in the LG by-poll hence there was no question of any electoral dominance for the Dr Sattar-led party.

“Since 1987 [when the MQM swept local government election for the first time and made Dr Sattar the mayor of Karachi] there are either pro-MQM voters or anti-MQM voters in Karachi,” he said. “Our voters [are] always committed to vote for the candidates fielded by their leader, Altaf Hussain. So, no, there is no dominance of any establishment-created party and obviously those [who] voted for them [MQM-P] are the ones who had been voting against us since 1987.”

The MQM-P leaders, whom Dawn spoke to, conceded that it would be very difficult for them to win the 2018 general elections if the “Wafa Parast” candidates were allowed to contest.

They said “over 95 per cent” of the MQM-Pakistan would return to Altaf Hussain the day the establishment allowed his party to carry out political activities freely. “The remaining will either join Mustafa Kamal or leave politics.”

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2017