MQM's dilemma

The MQM-P is in disarray as recent infighting exposes its deep fault lines. Once the heartthrob of Karachiites for defending the city's rights, the party is now dysfunctional. It has split into multiple groups, all fighting for leadership. Compounding this is the party's failure to focus on development, demography and devolution, leaving the urban population marginalised. The recent clash between the Bahadurabad and PIB factions of the party remains unexplained, but their lack of command over workers highlights a complete breakdown of political control.

The largest party of the Urdu-speaking community is visibly locked in an inward-looking power struggle, routinely bickering over tickets and spheres of influence in Karachi. Leaders like Farooq Sattar, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Mustafa Kamal, Amir Khan and Anees Qaimkhani must step up and prioritise internal cohesion. The party completely lacks a coherent political strategy, rendering its performance in the Sindh Assembly a total non-starter. Having abandoned its fight for local government empowerment, the party leadership now seems entirely focused on fighting the provincial government over municipal resources.

This trajectory signals total moral decay, driven by the party's recent reliance on political engineering to enter parliament. Finally, with Karachi in tatters - lacking civic amenities alongside vital health, educational and recreational facilities - the MQM has indispensable homework to do. It cannot stay afloat on ethnic considerations forever. The way forward requires the party to recalibrate its policies and engage constructively with key stakeholders, especially the Sindh government. Revenue generation, district demarcation, census accuracy, decentralization and astute urban planning should become its hallmarks, rather than relying on aggressive sloganeering to push adversaries to the wall.