KARACHI: The Mutta­hida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Tuesday broke the silence surrounding the challenges the party has been facing despite sharing power with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in the federal government, after a visit of the leadership of the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to its Bahadurabad headquarters.

While the PTI-led government ally expressed an ‘understanding’ with the opposition, as pressure mounted on Prime Minister Imran Khan following the submission of their no-trust motion against him, the MQM-P stayed away from a formal announcement of its decision. The party regretted that the ruling party had failed to give it a reason to remain part of the coalition.

The opposition, despite its back-to-back meetings with the ruling coalition partner, has so far failed to receive the final nod from the Muttahida leadership that continued to insist it would come up with a final decision ‘soon’ in the larger interest of the party and the people of Pakistan, but the Tuesday round of talks was different in that PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman told a joint presser that the MQM-P was no more an ally of the Imran government and its formal announcement was just a matter of a day or two.

Final decision by govt ally ‘just a matter of time’, claims Fazl

The Maulana, who is also chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-Fazl), also told the media, without being corrected by MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi, the Muttahida and the opposition were in complete harmony on all the issues discussed during the meeting.

During the visit to Bahadurabad, the PDM convener and senior leaders of the JUI-F met the Muttahida convener and other leaders of the ruling coalition party.

After almost an hour-long discussion when the two sides faced the media they sounded convinced about their mutual understanding on issues confronting the country. While sharing details of the discussion, the PDM and MQM-P vowed to “stay in touch” on agreed grounds.

“In current situation we have found ourselves [MQM-P] in complete understanding with him [PDM convener],” said MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi while talking to reporters following the meeting.

“We are pleased that you [PDM convener] are here to guide us and listen to us. We would definitely take advantage of your experience and make decisions in line with your guidance. But here are a few things which the people of Pakistan and political forces need to understand,” Dr Siddiqi opened up.

The MQM-P convener explained how no political space was left for his party during the past 15 years despite “our honest effort to become part of the national mainstream”.

He referred to the closed party offices, criminal cases against its workers and their enforced disappearance, which had a combined effect on the party and became a huge challenge for it to decide about the future of the ruling alliance.

“Even the opposition parties don’t even meet the experiences which we do despite being part of the government,” Dr Siddiqi said.

“Your offices are not closed or demolished but ours are. Your workers are not missing but ours more than 100 are. When we became part of this [PTI] government, we had some hope but after more than three years, it appears that we have not been provided a reason for this partnership.”

The PDM chief was neither clarified nor corrected by the MQM-P leaders when he said the two sides had “complete harmony” over almost all issues and it was only a matter of time when the MQM-P would come up with an announcement of its decision.

“I am returning [after meeting MQM leaders] with complete satisfaction,” Maulana Fazl said. “The MQM-P may take a day or two to announce its formal decision but let me tell you that the allies of the government are no longer its allies. We are not just in harmony rather in complete harmony [with MQM-P]. And this government has lost the confidence of not only its allies but also every other Pakistani.

“Those filled with evils from head to toe are calling themselves as the propagators of the good. These are the elements which make us confident about the definite success of the no-trust resolution.”

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2022