Sattar 'saddened over broken trust' with Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui

KARACHI: Dr Farooq Sattar, the leader of the allegedly divided Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), reacted Saturday night to Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui's statements, saying he was "saddened" over "broken" trust.

"Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui sat with us yesterday. Today, he held a press conference without us," Sattar said, adding that he was unsure of how 12 ministers of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs) "changed loyalties so easily".

The MQM-P leader piled blame for his party's defeat on the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), alleging that the PPP bought over MPAs of his party for the Senate election. 

Lamenting that the PPP was celebrating its victory in the Senate elections and the "Bahadurabad peers" were happy to have bagged the "charity" seat, the MQM-P leader questioned how the party would be able to prepare for the upcoming general elections given the circumstances.

"I'm very saddened; our trust was broken today," Sattar commented, addressing media outside his PIB residence.

The leader announced a major rally after the Election Commission discloses its decision on March 7, and called on the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the alleged horse-trading during the Senate elections.

Responding to Sattar's allegations, PPP leader Saeed Ghani rubbished the claims as being "baseless".