Govt tasks aides to bring MQM back into parliament

Decides not to accept resignations of party MPs

ISLAMABAD:

The government has decided not to accept the resignations of Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmakers while tasking its key aides to negotiate with the leadership of the Karachi-based party.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman have been assigned to resolve the controversy and convince the MQM legislators to take back their resignations.



Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who returned from his three-day official visit to Belarus on Wednesday, discussed the issue with Chaudhry Nisar at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad. The National Assembly Secretariat clarified that the resignation issue is yet to be resolved.

Read: MQM resigns from Parliament, Sindh Assembly

Playing his role as a mediator, Ishaq Dar approached MQM leader Farooq Sattar and said that the country was facing numerous challenges on multiple fronts. He told him that political instability would further worsen the economy and security situation.

National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was also advised not to accept the resignations. In a late-night development, he approached the JUI-F chief by the phone and discussed the matter in detail. Later, Maulana Fazl called for the MQM leadership to rescind its decision. The federal law ministry, meanwhile, stated that resignations cannot be tendered in groups.



All but one parliamentary parties do not favour MQM’s ouster from parliamentary politics. PPP Senator Rehman Malik said on micro-blogging website Twitter: “The government must form a committee to examine the background of the resignations. Govt to sit with the local leadership of the MQM and find a middle way.”

In another tweet he remarked: “Resignation of parliamentarians en bloc reflects bad signs. The PTI was given relief, hence no discrimination with the MQM. Let the system move forward.”

Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, when approached, refused to comment, while pointing his finger towards the gun of a security personnel standing at the entrance to the Parliament House.

In his reaction, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan tweeted: “A tale of 2 resignations: One to investigate an election where all parties claimed election was rigged; & the other to save target killers.”

Read: MQM lawmakers resign en bloc

PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Quraishi said the MQM did not take other political parties into confidence before tendering its resignations. However, Jamaat-e-Islami lawmakers opted to remain silent on the issue while Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani said, “The decision will be taken on [MQM] resignations according to the rules.”


Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2015.