Daily Times

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has quit the ruling coalition after an agreement with the opposition alliance to support the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has lost the majority in the National Assembly after the MQM parted ways with the ruling coalition.

The announcement was made at a press conference attended by MQM-P leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Pakistan Muslim League-N (PMLN) President Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Fazlur Rehman and other leaders.

Siddiqui said that the MQM-P looked forward to a democracy that benefitted the common man. “With this hope, we have decided to work with the opposition,” he said. He said the agreement between the MQM-P and the opposition did not serve personal or party interests of anyone and each of the clauses will benefit the people, especially those living in the areas represented by the MQM-P for the past 35 years.

“We hope this ushers in an era where political disagreement does not mean enmity, where there is no room for vengeance and where tolerance takes currency,” he said. PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif thanked the PPP and MQM-P leaders for overcoming their past differences to reach an agreement for the sake of “Pakistan’s prosperity, Sindh’s prosperity and Karachi’s prosperity.”

Sharif said all but two points had been agreed with the MQM-P. He added that after a prime minister loses majority, the democratic norm is that he should resign.

“Even if he [PM Khan] is a selected prime minister, he should resign. I am hoping against the hope that he creates a new norm in the country.

Responding to a question regarding the joint Opposition’s plans for the future once they come into power – said that the “only purpose of the joint alliance is to work for the betterment of Pakistanis.”

“The word inteqaam (revenge) is not there in our dictionary, as we want to work for the betterment of small provinces, including Balochistan,” Shahbaz said.

“Pakistan cannot progress until small provinces are as developed as bigger ones,” he said.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said Shehbaz Sharif will become the prime minister in a few days. He also urged PM Khan to hold a vote on the no-confidence motion in the National Assembly session scheduled for Thursday (today).

“Let’s vote on it [the motion] tomorrow and get done with it. After this, we can work together towards a prosperous Pakistan,” said Bilawal. He called MQM-P’s decision to quit the government alliance as “historic” and said that the working relationship between the PPP and MQM-P had no link with the no-confidence motion.

He said both parties have to work together for the prosperity of Karachi and Pakistan.

“The selection in the name of 2018 elections was a conspiracy against Pakistan. It was a conspiracy against all the parties gathered here. The consequences of that conspiracy were faced by the whole country, but specially by Karachi,” added Bilawal.

Imran has lost the majority in the House, Bilawal said, adding that in addition to MQM-P, Aslam Bhootani, Shahzain Bugti, and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) had joined the opposition.

“PM Imran has completely lost his majority,” he said, adding that the premier should resign as he has no other option.

“He is not the prime minister anymore, either resign or come to parliament on Thursday to face the no-trust motion,” he said while addressing PM Imran.

“We will bring more good news for the people for Pakistan,” he added.

Leaders from the opposition parties and MQM-P drafted an agreement at the Parliament Lodges after midnight Tuesday.

MQM-P Senator Faisal Subzwari confirmed, first in a tweet and then in an interaction with reporters, that a draft agreement had been finalized and the details will be announced at a press conference at 4pm Wednesday.

The MQM-P came in the position to make or break the government after the PML-Q decided to side with the government when the premier took resignation from Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and offered the same position to PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in exchange for party’s support on the no-trust motion against the premier.

Though the resignation has not yet been accepted, MQM-P’s move has left both PTI and PML-Q red-faced, as they have lost three crucial wickets – PM Imran, CM Buzdar and would-be CM Elahi – on a single delivery.

With MQM-P siding with the opposition, the opposition officially now has more than the required numbers to oust PM Imran’s government through the vote of no confidence even without the PTI’s roughly two dozen dissidents.

The decision was announced in a press conference of the joint opposition front and MQM-P leadership after both sides reached written agreements, assuring MQM-P that all their demands would be fulfilled.

The MQM-P has been asking the government and the opposition to answer its demands in writing, saying the party would side with whoever would come up with a better response as it has to go back to its voters and supporters.

The demands included the opening of the party’s offices, recovery of “missing” party workers, discarding of “fake” cases against party leadership and workers, among other things.

Sources said that the opposition leadership, especially PPP, put a blank paper before MQM-P and asked it to write down all its demands as they would all be accepted.

Both sides had reached an agreement last night and were ready to announce the decision late Tuesday night but after delaying it till 3 am, they decided to hold the press conference.

The suspense in the wake of the no-confidence motion gripped the country for the past several weeks and everything else was put on the back burner: the only thing that continued by PM Imran was the use of inappropriate language, resorting to name-calling, and luring the allies and dissident members through requests and threats.

The united opposition has 175 lawmakers while it needs only 172 votes to oust the premier.

Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) President Akhtar Mengal said as a former ally, “I request you to step down as PM, you have lost the majority.”

Moving on, Mengal said PM Imran Khan was out on a “hit wicket” and asked the premier to resign from office, as the “chooran” of foreign conspiracy had become redundant.

“…people, no matter which province they belong to, are humans – and the sort of human rights violations that are taking place in the country for the last 30 years should stop now,” Mengal said.

The BNP-M leader went on to say that he did not want an old or new Pakistan, but a “different Pakistan”, where every person has the right to live, every province has the right to use its resources, where citizens are treated like human beings, and where kids do not become missing persons.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, in a reference to Premier Imran, said his reign of incompetence and utter destruction stood defeated both inside and outside parliament.

“You have not only lost the majority but moral authority. STEP DOWN,” she wrote on her Twitter handle.

Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Fazl also welcomed the decision of MQM-P to abandon the government and support the united opposition’s no-confidence motion. “This decision is not just a sign of political unity for Karachi and Sindh but for the whole of Pakistan,” Fazl said.

He said that the “drop scene” of the drama that began three and a half years ago has finally happened.

“Today, politics on the basis of lies is finally coming to an end,” he said. “Therefore, I would like to thank and congratulate all political workers and people who made sacrifices in a bid to get rid of this curse of a government.”

Fazl went on to say that the opposition wants to “lay the foundation of healthy politics.”

“We want a government based on mutual respect of all parties involved,” he said, adding that politics of hate practised by the ruling PTI has “has ruined the foundations of society.”

“And when a society loses its values, it eventually collapses.”

Fazl acknowledged that there would be “challenges ahead for the joint Opposition,” but added that despite that, the country is facing a “dire need for healthy politics” aimed at fixing economic, societal, and political challenges. “The unity that we are showing today will be required if we want the country to stand on its feet,” he said.

Fazl said it has come to his knowledge that the prime minister will address the nation. “…now everything is out of your hands”.

The PDM chief asked PM Imran Khan if he has an “iota of ethics”, he should resign today, adding that after BAP and MQM-P’s decision to join, the Opposition has more numbers than the required 172 to oust the premier through the no-trust move.

“I would like to say the international conspiracy was hatched when Imran Khan was brought to power,” Fazl stated, adding: “The plan to install this government was done internationally.”

BAP Parliamentary Leader Khalid Magsi – who later took over the presser – expressed hope that political parties, who were “previously enemies and now had become friends”, would work for the prosperity of Pakistan.

“… the agreement signed with MQM-P was not a favour, but it was their right. I appreciated PPP for acknowledging that every person, no matter whether they are Sindhi, Seraiki, Urdu speaking, or of any other ethnicity, are equal,” Magsi said.

The BAP leader said the agreement would help Sindh prosper. “I do not want to comment on the last 3.5 years as bygones are bygones, but I hope that they (government) learn from their mistakes.”