KARACHI - Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Convener Dr Farooq Sattar on Saturday said that efforts were being made to steer the party out of crisis and save it from division.

He expressed these views while addressing the media men after his meeting with MQM-P coordination committee members, who had arrived here to see him after withdrawing the letter they had written to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Sattar said the party could not let its movement of 40 years go waste. The issue of nominations, that was settled earlier, resurfaced after the coordination committee wrote a letter to the ECP with the plea that coordination committee was the competent authority to issue party tickets for Senate elections and not the party convener.

Sattar said the issue was not supposed to go public and it should have been resolved behind the closed doors. He said the crisis started on February 5 and it was portrayed as an issue of ego, but it was something else. He said that difference of opinion was beauty of democracy and it should always be sorted out through talks. He said that issues would be resolved and names of Senate candidates would be finalised after consultations.

Earlier in the day, the coordination committee announced withdrawing the letter it had written to the ECP. The letter challenged signing authority of Sattar.

Coordination Committee member Kanwar Naveed Jameel made this announcement while addressing a press conference at party office in Bahadurabad. Amir Khan, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Wasim Akhtar and others were also present on the occasion.

The committee has decided to withdraw its letter to the election commission, said Jameel, adding that all members of coordination committee were going to Sattar’s residence at PIB Colony. “We have received a message from Sattar through old friends and it has been decided that the committee will visit PIB Colony,” he said.

When Amir Khan started addressing the media men, he started crying. “I will never become party convener in my entire life,” Khan said with tears in his eyes. “I lost my son and decided to rejoin hands with the MQM on May 2011 for the sake of Mohajir community. I rejoined MQM on one condition and it was eventually to apologise to the families of martyrs,” he said.

Khan said it was unfortunate that he had been accused of splitting the party to get party’s control. “I am going to stay as deputy convener of the party for life. I am happy with my workers who gave me respect during my stay in the party,” he said. He was unable to conclude his speech as he broke down into tears and then party leaders comforted him.

Speaking on the occasion, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that Bahadurabad was party’s office and Sattar should run the party affairs from there. He said the committee was going to visit Sattar for further talks.

Earlier, talking to a news channel, Sattar said, “I neither want to be Altaf Hussain nor Mamnoon Hussain. Sattar kept reiterating that he was the only one in the party who had the authority to decide party matters.

Sattar said there was no dispute over nomination of Kamran Tessori, but it was projected in the media as a bone of contention. He said he never did anything to divide the party.

To a question about nomination of Tessori, Sattar said that 17 candidates had submitted nomination papers for the Senate election. It was decided that the names finalised earlier would be dropped and new names would be agreed on after consultations. “I made many attempt to visit MQM-P temporary headquarters in Bahadurabad, but developments, especially the letter to the ECP, widened the gulf between him and his party members.

On Saturday, MQM-P former member Salman Mujahid Baloch threw his weight behind Sattar. Baloch, who had left MQM-P and joined Mustafa Kamal-led Pak Sarzameen Party due to differences with Sattar, announced joining hands with Sattar after a meeting with him at PIB Colony on Saturday.