The unexplained visits of two senior leaders of the MQM to the UAE have triggered speculation that Dubai-based former Pakistani dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf is keen to become joint president of the two factions of the party, media reports said on Sunday.
The city was abuzz with reports that senior Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui flew to Dubai on Friday where he met Musharraf who is more than willing to unite the Dr Farooq Sattar-led MQM and the Pak Sarzameen Party led by former Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal, Dawn reported.
Siddiqui returned home yesterday. While those representing Musharraf, 73, on the social media remained tight-lipped about his political engagements in the UAE, the MQM promptly denied the meeting, the report said.
A spokesperson for the MQM, Aminul Haq, rejected reports of the meeting and said Siddiqui was in Pakistan. “He did not meet any politician, including Gen Pervez Musharraf.” He, however, confirmed that Siddiqui, MQM’s deputy parliamentary party leader in the National Assembly, visited Dubai for “less than 24 hours”, but said his trip was strictly personal in nature.
Before Siddiqui, MQM-Pakistan head Sattar also visited Dubai and returned on Friday. He told reporters that he met neither Musharraf nor former governor of Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad.