Senator Waqar Mehdi likens Muttahida to a puppet

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had held the people of Karachi hostage in the past on the basis of the party’s terrorist tendencies, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Waqar Mehdi said on Monday.

A statement issued in reaction to the recent speeches of MQM-Pakistan leaders at a public meeting quoted Mehdi, who is also the PPP Sindh general secretary, as saying that the Muttahida is like a marionette that lacks the ability to function independently.

He said the MQM had laid bare its views on the 18th constitutional amendment. He mentioned that the 18th Amendment was an accord between the federal government and the provincial administrations.

He claimed that the MQM had earlier been involved in plundering Karachi and siphoning off billions of rupees from the city to London, while the Muttahida leaders are now quarrelling over the assets of the party’s founder.

He also claimed that the PPP’s opponents have been feeling dejected and frightened after sensing that the Peoples Party would win the upcoming general elections, given the rising popularity of the party.

Mehdi said that three earlier mayors of Karachi had belonged to the MQM, but even then the party had failed to deliver to the people of the city. He claimed that in the past 15 years the PPP government has served the people of the city indiscriminately. He said development projects costing billions of rupees have been completed during the PPP’s past governments in the province.

He also said the PPP has never used any backdoor means to come into power, adding that the party has instead always formed governments only on the basis of public mandate. The PPP leader said the city’s people would not vote for the MQM in the general elections, no matter how much effort the party puts in its electioneering. “Muttahida is here only to plunder the spoils of war, but this opportunity won’t be granted to the party this time round.” Senator Mehdi said the Peoples Party is here to protect the rights of the people of the city, and to safeguard all Karachiites from their enemies.

‘Terror tactics’

In a separate statement, PPP Karachi President and former Sindh labour minister Saeed Ghani claimed that the MQM alone was responsible for unleashing terror upon the people of Karachi in the past.

Ghani also claimed thatthe MQM has been once again aiming to unfairly win the polls in the city using its rigging and terror tactics. He said the people would not accept any more use of such unfair methods by the party.

He also said the MQM has become a “dead horse” in Pakistani politics. The party leadership had admitted dumping dead bodies stuffed in gunny bags and extortion were their signature styles of politicking, he added.

“Today the same MQM has been facing the issue of internal rifts, while it has also been hijacked by the PSP [Pak Sarzameen Party] mafia,” said the PPP leader. He said the MQM’s likely defeat in the previous local government elections in the city had forced the party to boycott the polls. He claimed that the MQM has been using coercive means to force their estranged workers to rejoin the party.