KARACHI: Further strengthening their electoral understanding against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on Monday agreed to make a joint strategy for the Feb 8 elections to bring an end to what they described as the “15-year rule of corruption” of their past ally.

The fresh development took place at MQM-P’s temporary headquarters in Banadurabad, where a JUI-F delegation, led by its Sindh chief Allama Rashid Mahmood Soomro, met with MQM-P leaders Mustafa Kamal, Aminul Haq, Anis Kaimkhani, Jawed Hanif and others and agreed to “common objectives” of the two parties in the upcoming polls.

“The leaders of the two sides exchanged their thoughts over the upcoming general elections, mainly in Sindh, and agreed that it’s high time to devise a strategy for the polls to form a people-friendly government in the province and bring an end to the 15-year PPP rule of corruption,” said a statement issued by the MQM-P after the meeting.

The two parties also agreed to continue the process of dialogues to build a joint strategy. Their leadership would hold another round of talks in a few days before reaching any consensual decision, it added.

Election office opened at PIB Colony

Separately, the MQM-P inaugurated an election office in PIB Colony on Monday.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, MQM-P convenor Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that his party would stage a comeback with full force in the Feb 8 elections and recover the mandate of urban Sindh which was “stolen” in the 2018 polls.

Khalid Maqbool vows to recover mandate ‘stolen in 2018 elections’

“Despite all grievances and complaints, we chose the path of struggle in a democratic and civilised way. Despite all reservations and apprehensions, we moved forward and accepted every single political entity of the country, only to safeguard democracy and the parliament,” he said.

“We believe in struggle, not in slogans and that’s the reason hundreds of thousands of Karachiites were counted in the digital census, who were left out in the initial phase. Now it’s time for our party to regain its ground and mandate which was stolen in 2018,” Dr Siddiqui added.

He said that the ruling elite was well aware of the significance of Karachi but it deliberately ignored the business capital. However, he said, the MQM-P had made the country realise the importance of this mega city which was home to people of every ethnicity in the country.

He accused the PPP of dividing the people of Sindh on ethnic lines and toeing the politics of hatred for its electoral gains.

He said: “We want to bridge the gulf between urban and rural areas in the province and we have already given our share of sacrifice for this. We are only against feudal democracy and this rule of feudal lords in the garb of democrats should come to an end.”

With the passage of time, the narrative of the MQM-P would further prove its accuracy and those who are building the narrative of hatred and ethnicity would face defeat, he added.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2024