MQM-P may win back seats lost to PTI: minister

The IT minister said he was opposed to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority imposed ban on Wikipedia

HYDRABAD:

Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haque has expressed hope that Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) will win back all the nine seats of the National Assembly from Karachi in the upcoming by-elections.

"These constituencies belonged to MMQM-P. These were snatched from us [in the 2018 general elections] but now we will get them back," he said while talking to the media on Monday in Hyderabad where he inaugurated a digital school in Latifabad.

The seats fell vacant due to the resignations of the MNAs of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which had secured a historic victory from Karachi bagging 14 NA seats in 2018. Commenting on the political situation, Haque said the general elections will be held after completion of the digital census and subsequent delimitation of the constituencies.

Haque opined that it would take till October to finish the processes of census and delimitation. He reiterated the MQM-P's boycott of the January 15 second phase of the local government elections in Sindh caused a massive drop in the voter turnout.

Wikipedia

The IT minister said he was opposed to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) imposed ban on Wikipedia. The website was blocked last week because it had published blasphemous content which was not removed despite a 48-hour deadline given by the authority.

"The ministry of IT is against such bans," he underlined, recalling that earlier YouTube and TikTok were also banned in Pakistan. "The ban doesn't provide a solution. We need to resolve the contentious issues through negotiations." The minister said he will take up the matter of blocking Wikipedia with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Haque apprised that his ministry is investing Rs16.3 billion through 20 projects in Sindh to lay the optical fiber system. According to him, around 11 million people residing in 4.185 villages of Sindh will benefit from those projects.

He told that the digital schools will provide education to children of seven years of age and above with the help of computers. He added that one government school each in Badin and Thatta districts will also be digitized under a project of Pakistan Telecom Foundation.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2023.