The party’s six National Assembly seats have gained significance as the PTI attempts to muster enough strengh to form government in the Centre, in the face of a formidable opposition. On Monday, the party that has seen its fortune dwindle sharply in the city it has controlled since its formation in the 1980s held a workers convention ‘to deliberate on the plan in the Centre’.
Speaking to the media after the convention, Dr Farooq Sattar said that the party would not join the PTI-led government in the Centre. However, the party spokesman maintained later that no decision had yet been made on the matter. He said that the party would take a decision after the leadership’s meeting with the PTI delegation led by Jahangir Tareen. Others in the delegation will be Dr Arif Alvi, Imran Ismail and Firdous Shamim Naqvi. The meeting, scheduled to be held on Monday night, had yet to begin by the time this report was filed.
Meanwhile, sources privy to discussions on the matter told Daily Times that there were differences between MQM-P convenor Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi and deputy convener Amir Khan over the issue. While the former was insisting on joining the opposition benches, the latter was in support of being a part of the government. The group led by Khan wanted to strike a bargain with the PTI under which MQM-P led metropolitan and district administrations could get a special special development package in Karachi and Hyderabad. This, the source said, was expected to put the party in a better position for the next local bodies elections.
The group that supports sitting in the opposition includes a majority of the workers allied with the PIB faction. Earlier on Monday, a MQM-P delegation met the former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair to discuss affairs in the Centre. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Zubair said the representatives of both parties discussed the conditions in Sindh, especially Karachi alongside the political situation in the country.
Published in Daily Times, July 31st 2018.
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