Daily Times

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader and Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar Sunday said that his party had no other option but to clinch a deal with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) miserably failed to address the city’s issues.

He was talking to media persons at the head office of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. He said that that no political party or institution seemed interested in solving the problems being faced by people of the city.

The mayor said that the issues of Karachi were now beyond politics. “The country is heading to a disaster, therefore all political, parties and organisations must think about Karachi’s problems,” he added.

Waseem said that the incoming federal government should improve the situation in Karachi and Sindh specially those issues related to local government and make the municipal governments powerful.

“I am playing the role of a bridge between the provincial and the federal government,” he said.

To a question, the MQM-P leader said that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) had been signed with PTI for the solution of problems faced by the people of the city.

However, he said, some modalities were yet to be finalised with the PTI.

“We will take all members of the MQM-P’s coordination committee into confidence on this,” he said.

He, however, rejected the results of the July 25 general election in Karachi and said his party was not satisfied with them. “We have reservations over the election results and want recounting in eight National Assembly seats and 16 Sindh Assembly seats,” he said.

The mayor said that the elections were rigged in a manner that there was hardly any need to constitute any committee or commission to probe the matter as ballot papers were found in garbage dumps and schools in different parts of the city.

He alleged that there was a massive “pre-poll” rigging and added that the MQM-P had also held a protest against rigging in front of the provincial election commission.

In a hidden jibe at the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) he said that “dolphin” – the election symbol of PSP failed to impress people.

The mayor said that his party was facing a crisis as several party workers were either in prison or missing.

Published in Daily Times, August 6^th 2018.