MQM-P threatens coalition divorce over LG gripes

LAHORE/KARACHI:

The MQM-P on Sunday warned that it would leave the ruling coalition if the second phase of the local government elections in Karachi were held without changing the present constituencies.

Addressing a news conference at the MQM-P's headquarters in Karachi‘s Bahadurabad neighbourhood, the party’s convener, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, accompanied by members of its Rabita (coordination) Committee, said media reports indicated that LG polls in the urban areas of Sindh, including Karachi and Hyderabad divisions, would be held on January 15.

He added that the party was ready for the LG polls even if they were held on January 10 as long as the party’s demand for drawing out fresh constituencies in the city was met.

Siddiqui further told the media that even though the MQM-P was not a formal ally of the PPP, his party had thoroughly discussed and agreed on several matters about Sindh with it in the province, especially the constituencies in its urban areas.

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 “However, the delimitation of constituencies carried out in the province were against the law and Constitution,” he lamented.

“In some areas, there are 30,000 union councils whereas in others, there are 90,000 [where the MQM-P was dominant]. This fact has been admitted by the leadership of various parties including the PPP itself. The pre-poll rigging has already taken place,” he added.

The MQM-P convener maintained that during the last eight months, his party had taken up the issue of the constituencies in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions dozens of times.

He said the party had even approached the Supreme Court on the matter and the Chief justice of Pakistan had heard its reservations.

He stressed the need for fair and transparent LG polls in Karachi and other urban areas of the province.

The MQM leader requested the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to carry out fresh delimitation of constituencies in these areas before the LG polls.

He further said that if the constituencies were not corrected, then the party would take to the streets.

The MQM-P leader said he would convene a meeting of the party’s general activists and place the fact before them.

“It’s up to the party activists to decide whether they want to contest these polls while remaining in the [coalition] government or not,” he added.

He maintained that all the agreements made with the MQM-P, signed by the leadership of all coalition parties, were not kept and it was increasingly becoming hard for it to advise its activists to remain patient.

He questioned how could the LG elections be held in a peaceful manner with the lack of neutrality.

Siddiqui also asked the ECP why it had handed over the responsibility of conducting the delimitation of constituencies to the PPP-led Sindh government despite the fact that it was an "unconstitutional" move.

He said the party would take its case to the ECP and superior judiciary in Islamabad.

The MQM-P convener also demanded that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should take notice of the matter as to why the LG polls in Sindh were constantly being delayed.

He gave the premier a deadline of 24 hours to address his party’s grievances.

“If the prime minister is listening to this news conference, I want to ask him what happened to those agreements you signed with us?” he asked.

Siddiqui also inquired from the PPP leadership of its assurances made to his party.

“If the constituencies are not corrected before the LG polls on December 15, the residents of Karachi would not accept their results,” he concluded.

The MQM-P’s coordination committee has convened a meeting of the party’s office-bearers and activists on Tuesday (tomorrow), wherein it would be decided to stay a part of the ruling alliance or part ways with it.

Following Siddiqui's warning, PML-N leader and federal minister Ayaz Sadiq contacted Information Technology Minister Aminul Haque of the MQM-P on the phone and assured him that the reservations of the latter’s party would be addressed.

Sources said an MQM-P delegation, headed by Haque, would meet Sadiq on Monday (today) and there would certainly be progress on the written agreement the party had inked with the government.

Speaking to the media in Lahore after attending the shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh, Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori said the PPP should keep its agreement that it had signed with his party.

“Otherwise, the MQM-P is free to make its own decision,” he added, referring to the party’s warning that it would part ways with the ruling alliance.

The governor said he had conveyed his party’s concerns to the prime minister.

He added that he would also take up the matter with the PPP leadership.

Tessori further said that he had prayed for a chance to rejoin the MQM-P and he was granted the status of the governor in return.

He claimed that the issue between MQM founder Altaf Hussain was between the former and the State. “Being the governor, my loyalties rest with the State,” he added.

The governor further said he had come to the shrine of Data Ganj Bakhsh to express his gratitude and he could not describe the satisfaction he had received after attending it.