Reunifying MQM

MQM-P recently suggested the deal is already done and only needs to be officially approved by the MQM-P convener

Reunification of the various factions of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is looking like a near certainty after top MQM-Pakistan leaders gave their blessings to accepting the return of the disgruntled founder of MQM-P, Dr Farooq Sattar, and Mustafa Kamal’s Pak Sarzameen Party back into the fold. Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori of the MQM-P recently suggested the deal is already done and only needs to be officially approved by MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.

Most observers believe Siddiqui must approve a merger if the party is to return to real parliamentary significance. Despite still having enough seats to play kingmaker in Islamabad, the party’s influence has waned greatly, even before the ban on Altaf Hussain and the ‘original’ MQM. The party was left on the fringe after the 2013 elections — one of the first times that neither the winning party in Islamabad nor Karachi offered any carrots to join the ruling coalition, and despite its seven MNAs being part of the ruling coalition in Islamabad after the 2018 polls, the MQM-P actually lost a significant number of seats compared to the MQM’s showing in 2013, where its 24 MNAs made it the fourth-largest party in the National Assembly.

The MQM-P’s relationship with the PTI as a junior coalition partner remained fraught at best, and while the PDM government did throw the party a massive carrot in the form of Sindh governorship, the circumstances leading up to this turn of good fortune were more blind luck and less smart politicking. Another cause for concern for the various MQM factions is the fact that they are not only splitting a vote bank, but are actively losing voters to the PPP and PTI, which is why the PSP, despite alleged powerful backers, was a bust during the 2018 elections, failing to win a single seat in the National Assembly or the Sindh Assembly. In light of this, coming together becomes even more important to ensure all concerned maintain political relevance.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2022.

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