WHILE the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) insists that the dissolution of its over 80-strong coordination committee is part of a restructuring plan, insiders view the decision to disband the top decision-making forum as a victory of the party’s top leadership in successfully removing certain painful thorns in its side.

On Wednesday, the MQM-P dissolved its coordination committee as part of a “reorganisation initiative” and announced a seven-member ad-hoc body headed by convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and comprising Mustafa Kamal, Dr Farooq Sattar, Nasreen Jalil, Anis Kaimkhani, Kaiful Wara and Rizwan Babar as its members, to oversee party affairs.

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Although many former members of the coordination committee term the move a long overdue one, they believe that the real objective seems to purge the party’s top decision-making forum of dissenting voices so that a few individuals can act freely on their whims.

They believe the disbanding of the forum would help those still at the helm of the affairs to avoid questions regarding two back-to-back audio leaks involving former Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal and Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, a forced resignation of a minority community member as an MNA on reserved seats and several other contentious issues, including whether to support Pakistan Peoples Party’s Asif Zardari in his presidential bid.

Dissolution of MQM-P’s coordination committee is said to be an outcome of mistrust

Several senior members of the coordination committee, including senior deputy convener Aamir Khan and deputy convener Wasim Akhtar, are no longer part of the committee after its dissolution.

“Mistrust”, responds a senior MQM-P leader when asked about the actual reason behind the dissolution of the body. He also cites as reason for disbanding of the committee the audio leaks fiasco as well as a controversy surrounding the nomination of a minority community member as an MNA on a reserved seat and his subsequent resignation that he claimed doesn’t contain his signatures.

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Recently, two audio clips containing voices of Mr Kamal and Governor Tessori were leaked on social media. In the audio tapes, Mr Kamal and the governor could be heard briefing the coordination committee about their talks with the PML-N. Mr Kamal had informed the meeting participants that the PML-N told them that the PPP was saying that the MQM-P’s mandate is 100 per cent fake and that the PML-N and PPP had numbers in parliament for government formation and there was no need to take the MQM-P on board.

In the second audio, the governor can be heard telling the meeting that the MQM-P “didn’t get the vote today [in the 2024 elections]” and that the PML-N had offered only one ministry — science and technology — and they also wanted to bring their own governor in Sindh.

In his reaction to the viral audio, Mr Kamal had admitted that it was his voice in the audio and alleged that it was leaked by a ‘mole’ of MQM-L in the coordination committee of the MQM-P.

However, several MQM-P leaders have confided to Dawn that the party is still unaware of the identity of the person(s) who recorded the conversation of a closed-door meeting and put it on social media.

“Some of those in the ad-hoc committee used these leaks to disband the coordination committee. I think they are the ones who recorded and leaked the audios since no such incident had ever happened before,” says a former member of the coordination committee.

He recalls that in 2013, Altaf Hussain had disbanded the coordination committee following the result of the general elections and now those who are part of the ad-hoc committee are following his footsteps. “Altaf Hussain did not tolerate dissent in the coordination committee and so do the current leaders,” he adds.

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Former coordination committee member Waseem Aftab holds “four or five” members— who are also part of the new ad-hoc body— responsible for every decision that had negative consequences for the party, including the boycott of the local government elections.

He says it is ironic that those who were at fault punished the whole committee, including those who had been side-lined soon after the January 2023 merger between the Pak Sarzameen Party and MQM-P just for speaking their mind.

“These four persons should also go if they are really sincere in the reorganisation of the party,” he says. “Because of their policies, the Mohajir nation has shown them their actual standing in the elections. They should accept the responsibility and give a chance to fresh faces to run the organisation that once enjoyed massive support in urban areas,” he adds.

However, not everyone is trying to find out a political angle in the decision.

Former deputy convener of the once-unified coordination committee Nasir Jamal opines that this decision should have been taken long ago.

“Rabita Committee is the supreme body of the MQM-P and in order to improve decision-making, it is necessary to have a lean body with members who understand the complex political, social and economic situation of the country. It is also necessary for these members to understand and change according to the needs of time,” he adds.

“Instead of having a large committee, the MQM-P should have a small body…it will improve decision making and organisational efficiency,” he says and adds: “I am very hopeful that the MQM-P can regain its position if they start moving in the right direction. It is time to leave behind the bitterness and move forward.”

On Thursday, Mustafa Kamal insisted that the dissolution of the coordination committee was part of the reorganisation process of the party.

When quizzed as to who would decide on whether to support Asif Zardari in the presidential election, Mr Kamal told reporters that Dr Khalid Maqbool would take the decision.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2024