PM aides fail to break PPP-MQM delimitation deadlock

KARACHI:

The talks between the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan over the local government polls and delimitation on Monday remained inconclusive as deadlock persisted on the latter’s demand.

The talks, also attended by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and PM’s Adviser Malik Ahmed Khan, were held at Bilawal House under the chairmanship of former president Asif Zardari.

The MQM-P conveyed to the PPP its reservations regarding conducting LG elections on January 15.

The Sindh government's legal team briefed the delegation regarding the local body elections.

According to sources, the legal experts said that delimitations were not possible immediately, while new delimitations would require at least four months.

The Sindh governor said that there was pressure from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for holding local body elections in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions on January 15.

After the meeting, the MQM-P delegation and the federal ministers left Bilawal House without talking to the media.

After the meeting at Bilawal House, the MQM leaders reached the Governor House. They told Tessori that if a positive solution to the problem was not found, their party would be forced to take a tough decision.

Sources said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will would contact PPP Co-chairman Zardari about the situation of the meeting. The Sindh governor also contacted the PM and apprised him about the situation.

It is likely that a meeting will be held on Wednesday, the sources added. Regarding the inside story of the meeting, the sources said that the MQM-P stuck to its stand against the constituencies.

“Bitter words were also spoken in the meeting on some occasions, but Zardari cooled things down,” they added.

The MQM-P took a clear stand that they would not allow anyone to do anything wrong with the citizens of Sindh on the basis of numerical majority in the assembly.

The MQM-P said, “We want a permanent solution to the problems of citizens of Sindh, that's why we became part of the incumbent coalition government.”

In the meeting, MQM also accused the PPP of having no intention of implementing their agreement, saying that their demands were not being followed deliberately.

On Sunday, the MQM-P, an ally of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), adopted a strict stance over the delimitation issue in Karachi and Hyderabad and a non-serious attitude of the PPP government in Sindh.

The MQM-P Rabita Committee meeting, headed by its convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, threatened to quit the ruling coalition government at the Centre and kick off protests if "fresh delimitation" of constituencies for LG polls was not conducted in Karachi and Hyderabad ahead of January 15.

The ECP had announced that LG elections would take place in Karachi and Hyderabad on January 15.