Cracks appear in MQM-P over quitting govt amid census reservations

KARACHI: Cracks have appeared in the ranks of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leaders over the issue of staying or leaving the coalition government amid reservations on the digital census. As such, the party has issued two contradictory statements following a key session of its Coordination Committee. According to informed sources, various leaders of the party expressed serious reservations about the census. They were of the view that the Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf were gaining political strength over the issue of census, while the MQM-P, being a coalition partner, was finding it hard to build its narrative on the census while the elections were round the corner.

Some MNAs of the party at the meeting also presented their resignations to the party convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, who chaired the meeting, which was attended by senior deputy conveners Syed Mustafa Kamal, Dr Farooq Sattar and Nasreen Jalil as well as deputy conveners Anis Kaimkhani, Abdul Waseem and others.

The initial statement issued by the party said the Coordination Committee discussed political & economic affairs of the country, census and other important issues. The party had approached various forums for rectification of the census process but they were not heard, the statement read. The statement, however, did not mention the submission of resignations by some MNAs to the party chief. It added that the party would soon announce its future course of action regarding the census and share it with the media.

Later, the party issued another statement and quoted Mustafa Kamal as saying that no discussion on the current political situation had taken place in the meeting. The party’s senior deputy convener, however, confirmed that some MNAs had submitted their resignations to the party chief and refused to go to the assembly unless the federal government and Pakistan Bureau of Statistics address the party’s reservations on the census.

In addition, the statement also quoted Kamal as saying that the party was still a part of the federal government and it would stand alongside its coalition partners in all difficult times. The MQM-P leader also appreciated the prime minister and Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, saying that they had assured the MQM-P leaders that their concerns regarding the census would be addressed.

When The News approached Dr Sattar and inquired about issuance of two contradictory statements by the party, he said the party was not leaving the government. He added that two to three MNAs of the party themselves offered to submit resignations to the party head. He said those MNAs told the party chief that he could send their resignations to the speaker any time he wanted.

Dr Sattar also confirmed that the party had reservations over the census, as the population in Karachi was not correctly counted. He added that the party had already said on several occasions that the census was a red line for it.