As had been predicted by a number of political analysts, on Friday the MQM agreed to take back resignations from parliament and the Sindh Assembly. The decision came after a meeting in Islamabad between senior MQM leaders and key federal ministers, Pervaiz Rashid and Ishaq Dar. MQM leader Farooq Sattar claimed that the decision to withdraw the resignations came after the government agreed to form a grievance committee to address the party’s complaints. According to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, an MoU was signed between the government and the MQM to constitute a five-member review committee within the week to redress the MQM’s concerns. The committee will have 90 days to complete its work. Earlier, on August 12, MQM lawmakers had resigned from all assemblies citing victimisation and presented a list of 19 grievances. Demands included the formation of a monitoring committee, the release of MQM workers and a judicial commission to investigate the ‘extrajudicial killings’ of its activists. The MQM leadership has ostensibly appreciated the ‘political maturity’ of the government. However, it is clear that the MQM has taken the decision on a back foot. After much political gimmickry, including press conferences and strikes against a ‘non-serious’ government, the party has taken the bare minimum offer from the government to give it some leverage.
As expected, the PML-N government has delayed the matter enough to give the MQM a toothless redressal committee. The MQM, under pressure in the UK over its leader Altaf Hussain’s encounters with the Metropolitan Police and at home due to the Karachi operation, has been allowed to save face by conceding a bare minimum demand. The MQM has been under massive pressure from the security apparatus, the government and courts. After the resignations, it came under more pressure and its pressure tactic on the government had little actual impact as court orders from Lahore banned
Altaf Hussain’s speeches. Under pressure, only two weeks ago, the MQM issued a strange apology and appeal of clemency from the ‘establishment’. Very little actual disruption was caused in the operations of the government by the MQM resignations as the speakers and chairpersons of all three assemblies waited it out. Only last week Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani stated that he could not accept the resignations because they were ‘political’. What else is the collective resignation by a political party supposed to be? While it is good that the government has found a compromise with the MQM, it leaves us asking: will a resignation ever be treated as a resignation in this country?