MQM Sindh MPAs won’t resign, declares Izhar

KARACHI: Opposition Leader in the Sindh Assembly belonging to the MQM, Khawaja Izharul Hassan, has said that the demand being made from the legislators of Muttahida Quami Movement to step down is unconstitutional as legislators would resign only in view of aspirations of people to this effect.

Talking to newsmen after a session of the Sindh Assembly and holding a meeting of the parliamentary party of the MQM on Friday, the opposition leader said that legislators of the party would not resign in view of the demand made on political basis.

“No member of the Sindh Assembly has so far decided to resign. We will resign when we will lose confidence of the public,” he said.

He said the candidates of MQM who had contested the general elections in 2013 had secured votes on the basis of raising “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans and not on chanting the ominous “Pakistan Murdabad” slogan.

“The entire nation is loyal to the country as this mandate belongs to Pakistan Zindabad. We have taken an oath of allegiance to the state and nobody can demand from us on moral basis to resign,” said the opposition leader.

He said that out of the 50 lawmakers of the MQM in the house, 35 legislators of the party had attended the session. One MPA Shiraz Waheed was in jail while three other legislators of the party had resigned but their resignations were yet to be received by the Election Commission. 

Some 11 lawmakers of the party are out of the country but would soon return to the country and stand alongside MQM Pakistan like their other colleague legislators. He said the resignation of MQM MPA Irum Azeem Farooque was yet to be received. 

He said the party’s condition had changed after 22 August, 2016 as administrative structure of the party had undergone changes. He said that it was now the foremost preference of his party to wage a struggle to get innocent jailed activists of the party released from prison. In this regard, contacts would be established with law-enforcement agencies, Sindh chief minister, prime minister, and with all the relevant forums. He said the bereaved family members of martyred activists of the party had been suffering and efforts would be made to extend financial assistance to them.“It would be among our foremost priorities to get our 135 missing activists recovered,” said Khawaja Izharul Hassan.

He said the MQM Pakistan had made a big decision and affairs of his party should be judged on merit. He said the decision-making institutions of the country should welcome such a decision of his party to fill in the existing political void. He said that the decision taken by his party was also the decision of the entire Mohajir community.