PTI delegation expected at MQM-P headquarters today

A delegation of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is reportedly to visit the Muttahida Qaumi Movement - Pakistan's (MQM-P) Bahadurabad headquarters in Karachi today (Thursday).

According to Express News, the PTI had started reaching out to its disgruntled government ally after it [the MQM-P] recently expressed its displeasure, again, over the 6th population and housing census.

The PTI delegation is said to be represented by the ruling party's leader of the opposition in Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi, its parliamentary leader in the provincial assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh among other members.

It was reported that the meeting was being conducted on orders of the party's senior leadership, whereas the delegation would also apprise the MQM-P of Prime Minister Imran Khan's message.

The ruling party's overture comes a day after a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) delegation met with the MQM-P leaders at Bahadurabad. The PPP delegation comprised Sindh education minister Saeed Ghani, Senator Taj Haider and Waqar Mehdi.

The two parties discussed the upcoming Senate elections and current political situation along with considering a joint action plan on the controversial census results.

On December 23, the federal cabinet approved the presentation of the 6th Census report before the Council of Common Interests (CCI) for final approval and allowed the interior ministry to amend the Exit Control List (ECL) to implement various court decisions.

On December 30, it announced forming a committee with the view to remove “discrepancies” in the next population census after a ministerial body recommended accepting disputed results of the 6th national headcount in the “larger national interest” and hold the next census ahead of schedule.

Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar constituted a five-member committee with the objective that the next census is not only “accurate but also inspires confidence amongst all stakeholders so that it is a true reflection of the population in all regions of the country”, according to a statement issued by Ministry of Planning on Wednesday.

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Jehanzeb Khan will head the committee while its members include Muhammad Ahmed Zubair, chief economist; Muhammad Sarwar Gondal, (Member) PBS; Dr GM Arif, renowned demographer; Dr Muhammad Nizamuddin, renowned demographer/independent researcher; and representative of Nadra, said the planning ministry.

It stated that the committee will have the mandate to review the census process, data collection and field operation methodologies used for the Census 2017.

The 6th Population & Housing Census had been conducted from March 15 to May 25, 2017 and provisional results were released in August 2017 with the approval of the Council of Common Interests.

However, Sindh has long been refusing to accept the census results that showed no major increase in its population. As a result, the CCI -- a constitutional body having representation of the federation and its units -- has withheld the release of the final results.

The CCI in November 2017 had decided to validate 5% census results through a third-party and the final results were not released by the last government. The validation exercise was also not conducted by the PBS.