Piece of mind: Altaf takes credit for PPP tenure completion

Says neither he, nor his party, forced the Sindh governor to resign.

KARACHI:

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) chief took 11 days to give the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) a piece of his mind after his party quitted the ruling coalition. On Thursday, he took credit for the PPP’s tenure completion with daring candidness.

“If we had quit the coalition with the PPP in the first year; this government -- instead of surviving for four years -- would have had collapsed within four months,” thundered the MQM chief Altaf Hussain, while addressing the party’s 26th labor convention at the Lal Qila ground.

The MQM leader warned the PPP to “wake up from its slumber”, and said that the government instead of acting like a “tyrant” should serve the people.  “If we can bring the PPP into power, we can drive them out as well,” his voice echoed through a swarming crowd of MQM supporters.

Altaf said that his party has always been faithful to their alliances but their allies have always betrayed them.



Altaf condemned the brutal attacks on the Hazara community and demanded that the criminals be punished. “The law and order situation across the country is worsening. Schools in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are being blown up,” and said that people across the country are unaware of the atrocities taking place in Balochistan.

Ebad’s resignation

On the occasion, the MQM chief also spoke on the Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad’s resignation, and said that he had tendered his resignation of his own choice.

“Neither the Rabita Com­mittee nor I asked the governor to resign. He had resigned voluntarily.” Altaf added that he had advised the governor to resume his duties for the welfare of the country. “Members of the business community demanded that the governor be brought back so I asked him to resume his office to maintain peace in the province.”

Speculation over rifts between Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain and Sindh governor Dr Ishratul Ebad came to a rest on Thursday as the governor returned to resume his office.

After his arrival at the Karachi Airport, Ebad, while talking to reporters said, “I resigned because the prevailing situation made it impossible for me to continue my work,” he said, without going into details about what made him leave his post.

Hours earlier, the MQM chief called the governor from London and asked him to reconsider his resignation, as several businessmen and religious scholars were pressing for his (the governor’s) return.

He was to visit London to meet the MQM chief regarding his resignation, but returned after communicating with him on telephone. During his five-day stay in Dubai, the governor also reportedly held a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2013.