Bilawal asks MQM-P to rethink alliance with PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday advised Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) to rethink its alliance with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), “which is making the lives of Karachi residents difficult”.

Talking to the media, he said it did not appear as if the PTI coalition partners would continue working with the ruling party, adding the slogans against the PTI were being raised in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

Responding to a question regarding his offer of provincial ministries to the MQM-P on the condition that the party quits its alliance with the PTI in the Centre, Bilawal did not extend the offer again, saying: “There are a lot of ideological issues between the PPP and the MQM-P but as far as Karachi’s residents are concerned I believe that we should solve [their] issues together”.

“It is in the hands of MQM — that says it is standing with the people of Karachi, wants to solve their problems and admits that the federal government has not done anything and [instead] has created problems — to leave the federal government, leave the ministries and solve the problems of the people,” he added.

Bilawal lamented that the PTI had so far failed to fulfill its promises regarding local bodies or police reforms and was committing the economic murder of citizens.The PPP chairperson also asked the government to immediately evacuate the Pakistani students trapped in China’s Wuhan, saying: “Other countries are calling their students back but the Pakistani government isn’t taking any such step.”