Muttahida asks PM Shehbaz, PPP to honour pacts

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) coordination committee held an important meeting at its party secretariat in Bahadurabad on Monday to discuss the implementation status of the MQM-P’s agreements with the federal and Sindh governments after it became part of the current ruling alliance.

Expressing concerns over the delay in the implementation of the agreements, the committee members said that the attitude of the provincial government regarding the agreement reached between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the MQM-P before joining the ruling alliance is irresponsible.

The meeting that was presided over by MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui discussed that the PPP’s top leadership had promised the MQM-P of formulating the local government law in accordance with Article 140-A of the constitution, as directed by the Supreme Court.

However, they lamented, despite the fact that several negotiations have been held in the past three plus months, the agreement could not be implemented due to the unserious behaviour of the PPP.

MQM-P leaders said that instead of the Election Commission of Pakistan and contrary to the SC’s decision, the provincial government has carved out constituencies. Such constituencies are the worst example of pre-poll rigging, they pointed out.

They claimed that the Sindh government has been deliberately delaying the implementation of the agreement reached between the two parties. They said the MQM has always worked for the progress of the rural and urban areas of the province, and sacrificed more than its share to reduce the gap between them. Now it is the responsibility of the federal and provincial governments to maintain this unity and honour the pacts, they stressed.

The meeting unanimously demanded that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif play his role in this critical situation. The pressure of the party workers and the general public on the MQM-P has been increasing, and they want the party to make a decision in this situation, the meeting claimed.

Addressing a news conference at the MQM-P office a day earlier, former Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar had said in response to a question that the party had earlier inked an agreement with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in order to join the coalition government, but the PTI did not implement the agreement in letter and spirit.

“Now we have signed a written agreement with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the PPP in front of the country’s leadership and the media, but so far the agreement has not been implemented.”

Akhtar said that if the agreement is not implemented in the near future, the MQM-P will be free to decide its future course of action after consultations within the coordination committee of the party.

“If any party thinks that it can conduct the local government elections on the basis of unfair delimitations, it should wake up from this absurd idea. We won’t allow anyone to snatch Karachi’s mandate with such tactics.”

He remarked that the people of Sindh have supported the MQM-P in the past, and they are still supporting the party. He said the people know about their snatched rights, and can distinguish between good and bad.

He also said his party represents middle and poor classes of the country, but unfortunately, it does not enjoy freedom to carry out political activities that other political parties enjoy. Akhtar said the party has been struggling for the rights of 98 per cent of the country’s population comprising middle and poor classes but does not have liberty to do politics like other parties.

He said the MQM-P has been voicing concerns on issues such as unfair delimitations in Karachi, flawed census and fake domiciles for employment that have deprived the people of urban Sindh of their due rights.

“The MQM-P is a patriotic party, and our forefathers have sacrificed their lives for the sake of this country,” he remarked. A number of political activists of various parties also joined the MQM-P on the occasion. Akhtar welcomed them, and asked them to strengthen the party and take care of its discipline.

He said the doors of the MQM-P are open to everyone, including those who want to rejoin the party. Those who have left the party can freely join it again, and carry forward its struggle with determination and devotion, he added.