The Election Commission of Pakistan has taken Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui’s name off its official record as the head of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, leaving the party’s top slot empty in the regulator’s latest register of political parties.
The updated register, published on the commission’s website, shows a blank space where the name of the MQM-P chief should appear. The party itself has not been struck off the register, and officials say it remains a recognised political party for now.
The move follows MQM-P’s failure to hold its internal elections within the time the commission had allowed. Earlier this year, the Election Commission had given the party until October 15 to complete the exercise. When that date passed without the polls taking place, the commission sent the party a formal notice asking why it had not complied.
The notice gave the party two weeks to explain itself and warned that it could lose its election symbol if the internal polls were not held. Without a symbol, a party cannot contest a general election under its own banner.
MQM-P has since replied to the notice. Its response was filed through its counsel, Barrister Farogh Naseem. A senior commission official said the reply had been received and would be examined, and that if it does not satisfy the commission, the matter will be fixed for a hearing and decided on merit.
Siddiqui, who also serves as the federal minister for education, has led the party for several years, securing repeated extensions from the commission for the internal elections. At one stage he had assured the regulator that the polls would be held on October 14, but the commitment was not met.
MQM-P is not the only party affected by the updated register. The name of Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai has also been removed, as a case about that party’s internal elections and a change to its constitution is still pending before the commission. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan are likewise listed without the names of their heads.
The development has set off a debate inside MQM-P circles, with questions being raised about the party’s leadership and the way forward. For now, the commission’s message is clear: parties must hold their internal elections on time, or face the consequences laid down in the law.
