• Spokesperson confirms clip contained Tessori’s voice
• PTI, JI say audios vindicate their stance about ‘MQM’s fake mandate’

KARACHI: The controversy surrounding release of an audio of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Mustafa Kamal at a meeting of his party’s coordination committee refused to die down as another voice clip, this time of Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, surfaced on social media platforms on Wednesday, fuelling allegations of rival parties that the MQM-P’s mandate is “fake.”

Like Mr Kamal who had admitted the contents of the audio, a spokesperson for Governor Tessori also confirmed that the audio clip contained his voice, but it was “edited” to narrate things out of context.

Governor Tessori’s audio went viral on social media and later hit the headlines of private news channels.

It appears to be recorded during a meeting of the party’s coordination committee, where Governor Tessori could be heard briefing that the MQM-P was paying the cost of leaving PTI government and becoming part of the Shehbaz Sharif-led PDM government as this had angered its voters. “The MQM-P got seven seats despite all the hurdles [in 2018] which was our vote bank. We didn’t get the vote today [in the 2024 elections].

In the same audio, the governor informed the coordination committee that the PML-N had offered only one ministry — science and technology — and they also wanted to bring their own governor in Sindh.

Also, Governor Tessori, according to the audio, told the coordination committee that the PPP was pressurising the PML-N against the MQM-P.

Earlier on Tuesday, an audio clip of Mr Kamal went viral in which he could be heard briefing the coordination committee about MQM-P’s talks with the PML-N and that the PPP had told the ‘N’ league that the mandate of MQM-P was “100 per cent fake”; whereas mandate of other parties was “50-60pc fake”.

Later, in a video statement, Mr Kamal said that “a mole of MQM-London” in the MQM-P coordination committee had released the audio tape.

However, there was no word about the identity of the person who had recorded the audios and leaked it.

PTI, JI reactions to audio leaks

Already protesting against the alleged rigging in the Feb 8 elections, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) got another opportunity to hammer their narrative over audio leaks.

In his reaction to the two audio clips, PTI-Sindh president Haleem Adil Sheikh, said: “Now it has been more than two weeks and the parties who were declared winners in the elections aren’t ready to accept that it’s a reality.”

“The MQM-P is like a salesman who’s selling stolen goods. Because every buyer knows they’re selling the stolen goods, no one is ready to buy them. The MQM-P, PML-N and PPP know very well that their mandate is not because of people’s votes but because of rigging, manipulation and dishonesty of people at the helm of affairs,” he added.

JI-Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman went a step forward.

“After audio leaks of Mustafa Kamal and Sindh governor, the Election Commission of Pakistan has no excuse left to justify the results of Feb 8 elections. Now it’s an open and shut case,” he said in a statement.

“The ECP should immediately declare the results announced under Form-47s null and void and recompile the results in line with the Form-45s,” he added.

“Now it’s high time for Mr Tessori to come forward, become approver and share the truth with people as to how a rejected party was imposed on Karachi and Hyderabad,” he added.

The MQM-P, he said, had failed to win from even a single polling station out of total 5,500 set up across the city on Feb 8.

Published in Dawn, February 29th, 2024