ISLAMABAD: A dispute over selection of candidates for the March 3 Senate election has turned into an open rebellion against Muthahidda Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) head Dr Farooq Sattar as its top decision-making forum removed his favoured nominee Kamran Tessori from its co-ordination committee and suspended him for six months.

In a bid to demonstrate his control over the party cadre, beleaguered Sattar along with a few leaders told reporters that he was not ready to be a powerless and ceremonial party head.

Earlier, a meeting of the co-ordination committee was convened at the MQM-P’s temporary headquarters in Bahadurabad where Sattar had an altercation with senior leader Amir Khan when the latter along with others refused to endorse the former’s proposal to field Tessori as party candidate on one of the Senate general seats.

MQM-P officials said that majority of the participants seconded Khan’s views upon which Sattar boycotted the meeting and left for his residence in a huff.

He summoned all party members, excluding co-ordination committee members, to his home. All federal and provincial legislators and councilors of local councils including all workers of MQM-P were asked to immediately reach his house for an urgent meeting.

A few party leaders, including Tessori, and a number of workers reached Sattar’s residence and chanted slogans in favour of Sattar and against Khan. However, he waited for hours to make public his future course of action.