PTI govt assures MQM-P to honour promises

Jahangir Tareen meets Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui; both agree to meet again next week

ISLAMABAD: The ruling PTI has approached one of its key allies – the MQM-P, a Karachi based party – to assure it that the federal government is ready to address all its grievances.

According to sources, the PTI leader Jahangir Tareen met the MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui – also the federal minister for IT – in an apparent attempt to cement the ruling alliance.

The meeting took place against the backdrop of a recent offer to the MQM-P by the PPP, the ruling party in Sindh. Inaugurating some development projects in Karachi, the PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday offered the MQM-P to join Sindh government by withdrawing its support to the PTI.

“I offer the MQM to join the Sindh government and help us topple the federal government.

“For the sake of Karachi and its people, we are ready to give them as many ministries as they have in the federal cabinet. The people of Karachi know that [Prime Minister] Imran Khan has reneged on every promise he had made,” Bilawal had said.

The MQM-P had immediately spurned the offer, saying that although it was not satisfied with performance of the government, it would not pull out of the ruling alliance “at someone’s whims.”

“We had formed an alliance with the federal government for the welfare of the people and not for ministries. Instead of offering ministries, Bilawal Zardari should empower the local government system in Sindh,” a spokesperson for the MQM-P had said in a statement.

The sources said Dr Siddiqui communicated to Tareen grievance of the Karachi based party which felt that the PTI had not fulfilled the promises it made at the time of formation of the government.

He said the government had still not provided the much need Rs25 billion package for Karachi and also there was little progress on establishment of the Hyderabad University.

They said Tareen assured the MQM leader that he would communicate the grievances to Prime Minister Imran Khan. The two leaders agreed to hold another meeting next week.

The PTI had won the 2018 general elections, but couldn’t win enough seats in parliament to form a government on its own. Consequently, it had to form a coalition government with the help of the smaller parties, including the PML-Q, PML-F, BNP-M and MQM-P.

The MQM-P has seven members in the National Assembly but enjoys two ministries in the federal cabinet: Information Technology and Law and Justice. It’s the third largest party in the Sindh Assembly and has its mayors installed in two biggest cities of the province – Karachi and Hyderabad.