ECP serves MQM-P a show-cause notice over missed party elections

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued a show-cause notice to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) for failing to hold intra-party elections within the extended deadline of October 15, 2026, The Express Tribune reported on Tuesday.

According to the notice, issued on October 26, the commission said MQM-P had not conducted its elections within the prescribed extended period. It gave the party 14 days to reply and warned that further action would follow in accordance with the law if it did not.

What the law requires

The ECP said the regular election of political party office-bearers is a legal requirement under the Elections Act, 2017, which makes intra-party elections mandatory. A party must also submit an election certificate to the commission within seven days of holding them.

The notice carried a warning about the party’s symbol. Failure to hold the elections, the ECP said, could make MQM-P ineligible to obtain an electoral symbol, and the symbol could also be withheld for future elections if the party does not comply. An election symbol is how voters identify a party’s candidates on the ballot paper, so losing it would be a serious blow.

How the deadline was missed

The ECP’s Political Finance Wing told the commission that MQM-P last held intra-party elections on October 16, 2021. Under its own constitution, fresh elections were due by October 16, 2025. On April 7 the ECP rejected a request from the party for a two-month extension. A three-member bench headed by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) heard the case, with officials from the Political Finance Wing and party representatives present.

During that hearing the CEC questioned the grounds for the delay. “What war is being fought in Pakistan? We cannot grant two months,” he said, and he directed that the party convener, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, or his lawyer must appear at the next hearing, warning of serious consequences if they did not. Director General Political Finance Masood Sherwani gave the bench the dates of the last elections and the constitutional deadline.

A party in dispute

The notice follows a period of dispute inside the party. The Tribune pointed readers to its report that Farooq Sattar had approached the Islamabad High Court against an ECP decision to remove him as MQM-P convener. We have not independently reported on that case, and the details of the dispute are in the Tribune’s own coverage.

MQM-P has also been in the news as an ally of the federal government. This week the government asked it to name a member for the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms, as we reported in our story on the PPP and MQM nominees, which gives the party one seat on that committee.

What we know, and what we don’t

• Known: the ECP issued the notice on October 26, the party has 14 days to reply, and the commission has warned about the electoral symbol.
• Known: MQM-P last held intra-party elections in October 2021.
• Unknown: whether MQM-P has replied, since the notice only emerged on Tuesday, and what date the party will give for holding its elections.
• Unknown: what action the ECP will take if the answer is not satisfactory; the report only says action will follow “in accordance with the law”.

Why it matters

Intra-party elections are meant to make parties answerable to their members, and the ECP has treated them as a condition for keeping a symbol. A party that cannot show it has held them risks losing its identity on the ballot in a future general or local election. For MQM-P, the notice raises the stakes of an intra-party vote that is already years overdue under its own constitution. How it responds within 14 days will show whether it holds the polls or argues for more time.

This article draws on reporting by The Express Tribune.