MQM pulls out from ruling coalition in Centre, Sindh; accuses PPP of dropping cases against ‘criminals’.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has decided to call it a day by bringing its almost five-year alliance with the Pakistan Peoples Party to an end for, what it seems like, the last time. The party has announced that its lawmakers will sit on the opposition benches in the National and Sindh assemblies.
The decision was announced by Dr Farooq Sattar, the deputy convener of the MQM Coordination Committee, at a news conference at the Khursheed Begum Secretariat Hall in Karachi on Saturday.
“We stood by the PPP whenever it needed us but in return we were always cheated. It’s impossible to carry on with them now,” he said.
The disgruntled party has stated that the move was triggered by the withdrawal of cases against “Lyari criminals” – a reference to the Peoples Amn Committee (PAC). “How can we be with the government when it is supporting criminals involved in the killings of innocent Urdu-speaking citizens,” said Dr Sattar.
He added that by providing a cover to the PAC gangsters, the government proved that it was patronising criminals.
He said that the MQM had hoped that the PPP would not repeat their mistakes and added that they could now not move ahead with the alliance as the people’s mandate didn’t allow them to do so. Dr Sattar further said that they had conveyed their grievances to the president and the prime minister, but all their efforts went in vain.
The MQM has played a vital role for democracy in the country and it is unfortunate that the PPP did not honour its mandate, he added.
Sattar said the decision was taken after a series of meetings on the issue. “We bore with patience the killings of our MPAs Syed Raza Haider and Manzar Imam and hundreds of our workers. Had we broken this alliance earlier, we would have been blamed for the toppling of the PPP government,” he said.
Dr Sattar also said that transparent elections would only be possible when there was peace in Karachi and it was a crime to take back cases against hardened criminals.
MQM chief Altaf Hussain also broke his silence on the rift between his party and the PPP on Saturday saying, “When forces, instead of providing protection to the masses, are protecting criminals, the people will take extreme steps for their safety.”
Addressing a meeting with members of the Coordination Committee, Altaf said, “Meetings are being held in which criminals involved in land grabbing, extortion and kidnapping are being presented as political leaders. Their aim is to ruin the city’s peace.”
He warned that the MQM’s peace-building measures should not be taken as a weakness, as they would never “bow down to any injustice”.
According to last reports, MQM lawmakers tendered their resignations to the Coordination Committee, while a meeting was also under way to decide the fate of the provincial governor, who also belongs to the MQM.
Reactions
Various political parties have termed the MQM decision a “political gimmick” between two the PPP and MQM.
“If the MQM wants to say goodbye to the government, why is Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan still enjoying power in Sindh. MQM ministers have announced to tender their resignations, but are mum on the issue of the seat of the governor,” said PML-F General Secretary Imtiaz Shaikh.
PML-Nawaz Sindh Chapter President Ghous Ali Shah said it was a pre-planned move aimed at appointing an opposition leader in Sindh of their choice and starting the bargaining process of the appointment of a caretaker set-up before the general elections.
The Save Sindh Movement, an alliance of Sindhi nationalist parties, called the MQM decision “yet another joint conspiracy” by two the coalition partners.
In separate statements, Jamaat-e-Islami, Sunni Tehreek, National Peoples Party and PML-Q (Likeminded) also called the development a pre-planned move.
Meanwhile, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon refuted MQM’s allegations, saying that the PPP is “a democratic party which has nothing to do with criminals and their activities.” He added that every party has the right to make decisions in a democratic way. (With additional reporting by Hafeez Tunio in Karachi)
Published in The Express Tribune, February 17th, 2013.
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No, the alliance has not broken up. It has just gone underground. If MQM is in the opposition, they will nominate the Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly who will then appoint the caretaker Chief Minister in consultation with the PPP. They are planning to rig the elections with this scheme.