A five-member bench of the Election Commission also dismissed Sattar's petition challenging the jurisdiction of the ECP in the case and nullified the intra-party elections of the MQM-P. In his reply, Sattar had challenged the Commission's jurisdiction in intra-party matters. He had urged the ECP to dismiss applications filed against him. Through his counsel, Sattar maintained that the ECP did not have authority to intervene in the intra-party issues, saying filing petitions against him was an internal matter of the party. He urged the Commission to resolve the matter according to the party's constitution.
The Election Commission had earlier reserved a judgment on the petitions after hearing lawyers of both the sides on the matter. Addressing a press conference after the ECP's verdict, Sattar termed the judgment as a "dark verdict" against him and in violation of the rules and regulations of the Election Commission. "This judgment is illegal and unconstitutional," he said, adding, "It is a managed decision."
"The decision is aimed at implementing a plan to end MQM's politics. It is a plan to give some Karachi's seats to PSP and Bahadurabad faction," he said, adding that the Bahadurabad faction had voted for Sadiq Sanjrani in the Senate elections and the Election Commission's decision is their reward.
Citing some past examples, he said the Election Commission had rejected petitions in the past related to internal matters of the party, saying that it does not have authority to proceed on them.
Sattar also termed the ECP's verdict as part of a wider conspiracy against the MQM-P as some forces were planning to split mandate of urban areas of Sindh into different parties including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and others. He said the alleged plan not only included the 'minus Altaf formula' but also crushing the whole party by distributing its votes among different parties.
"I have been punished for standing against the MQM founder on August 23 (2016)," he said while referring to the day he announced that MQM would operate only from Pakistan and parted ways with Altaf Hussain over his provocative speech of August 22. He said the verdict has set an example for the future of other parties as well, adding that he was also punished for his November 9, 2017 press conference in which he had announced the end of an uneasy alliance with Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP).