Public to decide if MQM should stay in govt coalition or not: Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui

KARACHI: Alluding to strong public pressure to quit the federal government against the federal cabinet’s decision to uphold the controversial census 2017, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leaders on Friday said that the party has been left with no option but to take to the streets to solicit public opinion whether to remain in the PTI coalition. “Now only the people will decide whether the MQM-P should remain in the government fold or not,” MQM-P’s convenor Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said while addressing a press conference at the party’s headquarters on Friday.

Siddiqui said that the people of Karachi and other urban areas in Sindh were not properly counted in the census. “The population of Karachi is not less than 35 million, which was deliberately downplayed,” he said. “But after approving the controversial census, the federal government has approved the excesses against the residents of urban Sindh.”

Federal Minister Syed Aminul Haq, the party’s central leader Kunwar Naveed Jamail, and other leaders were also present at the press conference. Siddiqui said that the MQM-P became part of the federal government only for resolving the contentious census issue and for security the rights of the urban areas of Sindh but not for ministries. “The government had not fulfilled even a single promise despite their repeated commitments,” he said. “Our party is now finding no logic to stay in the federal government anymore?”

The MQM-P leader said that the party’s concerns over census are genuinely serious and their redressal is inevitable. He demanded the formation of a judicial commission comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan to probe into the “fake and rigged census. “The census is a matter of life or death for the people of Sindh, and with the federal cabinet’s approval of the contentious issue, we cannot further carry on to cooperate with the government,” he said

He said that MQM-P wants to show to the government that Sindh’s urban areas were the biggest victims of the 18th Amendment. He said the PTI enjoys the biggest mandate in Karachi, but it seemed that the party had no realisation of it and the people, he added, were disappointed with the government.

Backing the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s demand to conduct fresh census in the province’s urban centers, including Karachi, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail said the objections raised by the party are genuine and the PTI would address them.

Talking to Geo News, Governor Ismail said the MQM-P is an important ally of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the federal government will address their reservations.

He explained that the federal cabinet had approved census keeping in view the upcoming local bodies polls. "There is no time left to conduct another census," he said. Ismail pledged that the government will repeat the census exercise in 2022 before the next general elections and remove all discrepancies. He said that some PTI members and other political parties have also raised their objections over the census figures.

The governor said that there is an excellent understanding and working relationship between the two coalition partners. “The MQM-P’s reservations would be resolved and they will remain part of the coalition.”