PTI, MQM members clash at Sindh Governor House reception

KARACHI: The leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and coalition partners Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) exchanged heated arguments during a reception in the honour of MPAs of opposition parties at the Governor House on Friday.

During a reception for 65 lawmakers in the Sindh Assembly and joint Senate candidates held at the Governor House, PTI lawmakers Firdous Shamim Naqvi and Arsalan Taj and MQM-P’s Faisal Subzwari exchanged heated words against each other over various issues, according to the sources.

The Governor Sindh, Imran Ismail, later intervened and asked them to jointly work towards the success of their candidates, sources said. The PTI spokesperson, Jamal Siddiqui, denied reports of a spat between the PTI and MQM-P members during a meeting at the Governor House.

“The entire meeting of lawmakers of opposition parties was held in a better environment and no such incident occurred during it,” Siddiqi told The News. He said that the combined opposition, including the PTI, MQM-P and Grand Democratic Alliance, were on a single platform for the Senate elections. Also, in a separate meeting, some disgruntled members of PTI Sindh expressed their anger over-allotment of Senate ticket to Saifullah Abro and demanded the removal of Sindh Governor Imran Ismail.

Several PTI’s key leaders from rural Sindh, including former chief minister Liaquat Jatoi, attended the meeting held at the residence of PTI leader Gul Muhammad Rind. They expressed their dissatisfaction with the governor and protested that he did not them for the Senate elections.

They also blamed Ismail for defeat in the Malir, Sanghar and Tharparkar by-polls, a statement from PTI’s disgruntled leader said. They said that the governor Ismail is unable to perform in a satisfactory fashion, adding that he has also failed to effectively enforcePrime Minister Imran Khan’s manifesto in Sindh. The statement condemned the show-cause notice issued to Liaquat Jatoi by the party and demanded the withdrawal of the notice.