Dear MPACUK,  Now that the EU elections and the shameful election of the BNP are behind us, I would like to ask two questions.

Throughout the time leading up to the EU elections, MPACUK has berrated others for lack of action, frequently posting provocative, deemed sometimes offensive by some, articles seeking to shame those among our Muslim leaders and Muslim organisations who failed to explain to and urge Muslims to vote in the EU elections. Shortly just before the elections, MPACUK also called on Muslims to vote Green in the EU elections.

My first question is this: Given the MPACUK stance towards other Muslim leaders, mosques and organisations who have not urged Muslims to vote, what concrete steps (other than website articles and its own workshops) did MPACUK undertake to ensure that Muslims turn out to vote. Given that BNP scraped by about 1200 votes in North West and about 5000 votes in Yorskshire and Muslim population in both areas is far in excess of that number, how many voter turnout drives did MPACUK organise, have any door knocking campaigns been organised? The root of my question is that it would seem extremely hypocritical of MPACUK to disparage others while doing nothing itself. Secondly, those wishing to do something would look to MPACUK as an example of what can be done, and thus it would be great to know what MPACUK did.

My second question is this: why did MPACUK urge its supporters to vote Green? Given that BNP’s direct competition were UKIP and Conservatives, what was the rationalle for selecting the Greens?

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,
Wasalam,

Abdul Hafiz
MPACUK forum member

MPACUK: We thank this Muslim for holding us accountable, the principle of accountability is the only thing that puts a check on the leaders of this world and ensures they are doing their duty. When the Muslim world gave up holding leaders accountable, the net result was a leadership that was bankrupt and in decay that had no check or counter. Well done to the Muslims who hold Muslim groups accountable. We hope Abdul Hafiz will continue to hold other Muslim groups and their leaders accountable as well as MPACUK.

MPACUK have been working hard to educate and urge Muslims to vote throughout the European elections. One of the main tools we have that reaches 1,000s of people is our website which has had excellent coverage throughout the elections, providing information and exposure which would not have been possible without a dedicated team and our e-mail newsletter which again reaches 1,000s of people. Our teams have been interviewing candidates in order to inform the Muslim vote. Our teams have also been working on the ground, leafleting and urging Mosques to do khutbah announcements to inform their congregation of the importance of voting. We have attended hustings where we questioned some of the candidates directly. We of course would love to do more but this requires more manpower hence more volunteers, so please volunteer if you can help out.

The European elections are not the same as voting at the general election where a single party usually forms a government. The European elections effectively change the size of the established party groupings relative to one another.

Our endorsement of the Green party was about strategic voting. Having attended hustings we were convinced that overall the Greens were the best for the Muslim voters. For more information on how the rather convoluted voting system works watch this short video.

Since Nick Griffin won by under 5,000 votes ask yourself which party could have kept Nick Griffin out of power with an additional 5,000 votes? The answer is not Labour, The Conservatives, Lib Dems or UKIP. Only the Greens could have done this because of the way the votes are counted.

We are well aware that the North West region has many thousands of Muslims who could have voted but either didn’t vote at all or didn’t vote Green.

MPACUK is a relatively small organisation. There are hundreds of mosques in the North West. If they took the time and effort to inform the congregations of the importance of voting this mistake would have been avoided. There are already reports of increased attacks on Muslims and mosques following the BNP victory.

Until mosques face up to their responsibility and the Ummah is politically active this kind of tragedy will repeat itself.

MPACUK – Freedom Through Politics

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