PM assures MQM-P of meeting its valid demands

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan contacted Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui on Monday, assuring the disgruntled coalition partner that its valid demands will be fulfilled.

PM Imran Khan approached the MQM-P leader and summoned him to Islamabad. During the conversation, Siddiqui put forth his reservations in front of the premier who assured the former that the party's issues will be addressed.

PM Imran spoke on the matter during the media strategy committee session Monday, where he said that the demands of the MQM-P related to release of funds, development works, and establishment of educational institutions will be met soon. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Jahangir Tareen also spoke with Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.

A delegation of the PTI arrived earlier Monday at the headquarters of MQM-P in an attempt to address the grievances of the disgruntled ally, which had quit the federal cabinet a day earlier citing "unfulfilled promises".

The MQM-P on Sunday gave the PTI government in the Centre a jolt as Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui announced his decision to leave the federal cabinet over “unfulfilled promises”.

However, the MQM-P’s key leaders told The News that the party’s recent move was a part of pressurising the federal government to give it another ministry because, the party believes, Farogh Naseem, Minister for Law and Justice, has been solely working on behalf of federal government.

Following the bombshell announcement, Prime Minister Imran Khan tasked PTI’s Karachi leaders to meet the MQM-P leaders and address their grievances.

The PTI delegation, headed by Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar and comprising Opposition Leader in Sindh Assembly Khurram Sher Zaman and Firdous Shamim Naqvi, reached the MQM office in Bahaduarabad earlier Monday. Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Umar said that the PTI wished for the MQM-P to stay in the cabinet. "Our wish is that Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui remains in the cabinet," Umar said. "PM will visit Karachi in the first week of February and update the MQM-P on the developments related to Karachi," he added, downplaying reports that the governor of the province would be changed.

Speaking to reporters along side Umar, Siddiqui said that he had not taken back his resignation. "Our meeting was already scheduled, it was not negotiations," he said.

Meanwwhile, Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) led by Pir of Pagara also expressed its concerns about the PTI-led federal government.