KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui sounded on Sunday the alarm for the incumbent government and threatens to quit government if its demand of delimitation of local government constituencies in Karachi and Hyderabad was not accepted before January 15.
While addressing a press conference, Siddiqui said, “We heard the news that local government elections were being held on January 15, MQM-P was even ready for LG elections on January 10 as well.”
He said that the talks with the coalition government regarding local government elections continued and that there was an agreement between the MQM-P and PPP on various issues, and it was done in a constitutional way.
He said that it is the responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to delineate new constituencies before January 15. The court ordered that a meeting be held between the Sindh government and the ECP, added Siddiqui.
Siddiqui said, “We were still saying that the municipal elections were being delayed. MQM-P believed that the elections should be fair and transparent, but the pre-poll rigging has already happened in the municipal elections. We were on the streets to end the pre-poll rigging. MQM-P will pour onto street and protest, and if this situation continues to prevail, the party will decide whether to stay in the government or contest a separate election.”
He said the constituencies of Karachi and Hyderabad were not corrected in the past. “If the constituencies will not base on population, how can the election be declared transparent”, Siddiqui questioned.
Talking about the urban areas in Sindh, he said, “If migrants in Sindh’s urban areas do not receive justice, tell us where we should go. We cannot stop the workers on this injustice now.”
Siddiqui said that without the MQM-P, there will be no elections, and if forced, the people of Karachi may not allow anyone else to contest the elections.
Earlier, the MQM-P delegation called on Prime Minister Shehbaz, during which the delegation led by MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and comprising Governor Sindh Kamran Tessori and Waseem Akhtar apprised the Prime Minister about their party s grievances and reservations against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
According to the sources, the delegation also complained that MQM-Ps flags and banners are being removed in Karachi ahead of second phase of Local Government (LC) elections which are due in the mid of the month.
