Sattar’s MQM forms alliance with GDA to contest upcoming polls

Dr Farooq Sattar’s Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Bahali Committee (MQM-BC) on Wednesday formed an alliance with the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) for the second phase of the local government elections and the NA-245 by-poll.

MQM-BC Chairman Sattar, GDA Information Secretary Sardar Abdul Rahim, Syed Mohammad Ismail Shah Rashidi, MPA Hasnain Mirza, Syed Shafqat Hussain Shah, Barrister Arshad Baloch and Faisal Ali Baloch held a joint news conference at the Functional League House to formally announce the alliance.

Rahim claimed on the occasion that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) wants to run away from the LG elections because it knows it will be defeated.

He said the Sindh election commission seems helpless before the provincial government. In the first phase of the LG elections, the GDA was successful in winning a majority of the UCs, but its candidates were defeated due to collusion between the government and the commission, he added.

He also said the GDA and the MQM-BC have agreed not to field LG poll candidates against each other. “And there’s no better candidate for the NA-245 by-poll than Farooq Sattar. In the upcoming by-election, the GDA will fully support him.”

Rahim said their alliance believes in the unity of Sindh and a strong Pakistan. He said Larkana was the PPP’s stronghold that was demolished by the Larkana Alliance, adding that their goal is in line with the interest of Pakistan.

Sattar said on the occasion that during its 15-year rule in Sindh, the PPP has destroyed the province. “The PPP leadership is conspiring to further divide the people of Sindh. However, we’re committed to foiling this plan.”

He said the Sindh Assembly will be dissolved in a few months. “We want to end the anxiety in urban and rural areas together, and I needed the GDA’s support for that.” Mirza said the government coalition is based on personal interests. He said that the recent rains have exposed Sindh’s corrupt rulers who are busy filling their pockets instead of improving the infrastructure.

When the convoy of ministers and bureaucrats arrived in Badin to help the rain victims, they did not meet anyone apart from media persons, he added. He also said they returned after doing a photo session while the victims continue to wait for relief. He added that the alliance of the GDA and the MQM-BC will be fruitful for the people of Sindh. The lawmaker said that making alliances is a good practice in politics. “We should forget our differences, and stand together for the rights and development of Sindh.”

GDA meets Ismail

GDA leaders Sardar Ali Gohar Khan Maher, Rafiq Banbhan and Abdul Razzaq Rahimo met former Sindh governor and PTI leader Imran Ismail and discussed the changing political situation in Sindh.

They expressed concerns over bad governance in the province, and vowed that they would step up their joint struggle against the provincial government. They said that the people of Sindh could not be left to suffer under the Sindh government.

Ismail said Sardar Maher was playing an important role to bring about change in Sindh. Pir Saheb Pagara and Imran Khan would change the fate of the province, he said, adding that the countdown had started for the PPP. The people should buckle up for change, and Khan would not only visit Sindh but also come to stay there, he said.