PML-N is trying to destabilise govt: Altaf

Says if opposition resigns, MQM will contest from Punjab.

LAHORE: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain said his party was ready to contest all seats in the Punjab Assembly if and when opposition legislators submit their resignations and possibly trigger a dissolution of the House. In case that happens, he said, the MQM would request the president to hold by-elections on these posts and the party would contest all those seats.

Addressing a public gathering in Lahore via telephone, Altaf alleged that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was trying to dissolve the Punjab Assembly so that the current democratic set-up could be “destabilised”.

He said MQM would contest the by elections from all provincial seats in Punjab, if need be. The MQM leader lashed out at former provincial minister Zulfiqar Mirza and the PML-N leadership. However, he did not voice any opposition against the intelligence agencies.

Hussain urged Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo motu notice over two issues: Mirza’s alleged blasphemy of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Ayesha Ahad’s case where she was allegedly being victimised by the Sharif family.

He said that Mirza had committed blasphemy which should not be ignored and expressed his gratitude to the religious scholars who raised their voice against Mirza.

Hussain further stated that Mirza, in the recent past, had threatened the PML-N to close all its party offices in Sindh. Hussain also lashed out at media personnel for their silent stance over Ayesha Ahad’s case — who he alleged was married to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s son Hamza and later evicted.

He said that MQM has been wrongly portrayed as an anti Punjabi, Pakhtun, Baloch, Sindhi and Kashmiri party.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2011.