Move to topple Shah: Rivals PTI, MQM-P search for common ground

Qureshi visits Muttahida headquarters in Karachi

KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) hinted at their alliance in the next general election as well as bringing a new leader of opposition in the National Assembly as leaders from both parties concluded their first round of talks on Tuesday.

A PTI delegation led by Shah Mehmood Qureshi called on MQM-P chief Farooq Sattar and other leaders of the party at their temporary headquarters in Bahadurabad, Karachi to discuss the replacement of Pakistan Peoples Party’s Khursheed Shah as opposition leader in the lower house of parliament.

“No final decision, however, was taken during the meeting,” MQM-P’s spokesperson Aminul Haq told The Express Tribune. “We discussed the matter and listened to each other’s concerns. There are agreements and disagreements over some points but we hope for a totally workable solution in next rounds of talks.”



Talking to the media at the conclusion of the meeting, Sattar said his party and the PTI had worked together on many issues and shared similar views on the country’s political scenario. Apparently referring to the replacement of the opposition leader, he remarked that a mutually agreed agenda needed to be formulated.

Sattar took a jibe at the PPP, saying it had acted as a friendly opposition, in the past four years, to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government. He alleged that the PPP put the public issues on the backburner and did politics on personal interests in the assembly.

“It never talked about the problems of Sindh and the issue of local bodies,” he said, adding that the MQM had got nothing from PPP’s provincial government as well as the Centre in the past nine years. “The distribution of resources was never fair,” he added.



Sattar alleged that the PPP and the PML-N, two major political forces in the country, were in collusion and cast doubts on the impartiality of the 2018 general election.  He said the MQM-P and the PTI would work together on bringing reforms in the Election Commission.

PTI leader Qureshi said the talks with the MQM-P had been positive so far and some “big decisions” would be taken in coming months.

He seconded the MQM-P’s call for empowering the local bodies and said the country’s governance system could only be reformed after powers were devolved to the basic tier.

“Unless the local bodies system is efficient and the mayor has powers, the problems cannot be solved,” he said, adding that reforms were also needed in the Election Commission because democracy was directly linked to fair polls. “The PTI has consulted the MQM-P on the issues being faced by the country.”

Sources in the MQM-P say the PTI has proposed its chief Imran Khan and Qureshi as candidates for the opposition leader’s post. However, the MQM-P intends to suggest its own candidate as well.