KARACHI: After keeping the political temperature at a fever pitch well into the wee hours of Sun­day, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakis­tan (MQM-P) announced that it would boycott today’s loc­al government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad after its repeated requests for changes in the delimitation of constituencies were turned down by the electoral watchdog.

However, the party — a key government ally in the Centre that has seen its breakaway factions reunified earlier this week under the MQM-P umbrella — kept its anger confined to the local level and focused on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP); unlike its threat that it hurled earlier this week, the party said it wouldn’t leave the ruling coalition.

After an hours-long meeting of the party’s coordination committee in the Bahadurabad headquarters and then a late-night huddle with the Sindh governor and chief minister at Governor’s House, MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui told a press conference on Sunday that his party would not accept “unfair and biased” delimitation and taking part in the election would be tantamount to giving it legitimacy.

“Everyone has a right to win elections, but no one can be allowed to snatch them,” Dr Siddiqui said.

“Neither the voters’ list nor the delimitations and arrangements for the elections are appropriate,” he said and lamented that the party waited until the last minute for the election commission to “right the wrongs” and do justice but to no avail.

Mr Siddiqui urged the voters to “stay home” and boycott the polls as “your vote will not be counted the right way”.

The party earlier threatened to quit the ruling coalition, as its demand for fresh delimitation before the polls remained unmet. However, the ECP refused to budge and said the polls would be held on the scheduled date of Jan 15.

Earlier on Saturday, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari offered the MQM-P some last-minute advice. Talking to Geo News, he said the MQM-P was a “very old and senior” political party and advised it to “fully participate” in the local government elections, adding that the elections were very important so political parties could work together for the development of Karachi and Hyderabad divisions.

When asked what impact MQM-P’s departure from the coalition could have on the future of the federal government, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said: “I think this decision of leaving the government will be a non-political one. I think such a decision won’t be taken and the federal government is confident on its [strength of] numbers — if such a phase comes, we will manage it.”

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2023