Tag: MQM-P

  • ‘Regrettable’: CM Sindh expresses sorrow at the mishandled MQM-P protest

    ‘Regrettable’: CM Sindh expresses sorrow at the mishandled MQM-P protest

    Chief Minister (CM) Sindh Murad Ali Shah expressed sorrow on how the provincial government handled Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan‘s (MQM-P) workers and leaders’ protest against the controversial Sindh local government bill in Karachi.

    Taking to Twitter, CM Shah said, “Yesterday’s incident outside CM House is regrettable and as a political party, we believe it’s everyone’s right to protest peacefully.”

    Expressing his sorrow over the incident, Shah said that he talked to MQM-P’s MNA Amin Ul Haq and MPA Sadaqat Ali. During their conversation, they discussed and agreed that they needed to find a peaceful solution through dialogue.

    “Explained that we were always willing to hold a meaningful dialogue. Expressed sorrow over [the] death of their colleague and ensured thorough inquiry into the matter,” tweeted Shah.

    Shah further said, “Have instructed the Home Secretary to submit a report regarding yesterday’s events within 3 days. There was an agreement between Police and protesters to use a certain route which was violated, and this is also being investigated.”

    MQM-P protesters attempted to reach the CM House for a sit-in on Wednesday.

    The police, however, baton-charged the crowd and used teargas shells in an attempt to dissuade it from entering the red zone.

    A worker of the MQM-P was killed and several others, including women, were injured when police fired tear gas and resorted to baton-charge on their sit-in outside CM House.

  • Govt summons joint session of parliament on Nov 17

    The government has decided to convene the joint session of parliament on Wednesday, November 17, as it continues its efforts to persuade its allies — the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) — to rein in their support.

    Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry insisted that the government allies had expressed confidence in the leadership of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and assured him of voting in favour of the bills.

    “Reservations of the coalition partners have been removed and the government had unanimously decided to convene a joint session of the parliament on Wednesday,” said Fawad.

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said, “The allies have assured the prime minister that they will support all eight or 10 bills to be tabled in the joint sitting of the parliament.”

    Earlier, PML-Q on Sunday decided that it was parting ways with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and launching its campaign for the next general elections.

    The party’s parliamentarians noted that people were facing a hard time in making ends meet because of the government’s “negligence”.

  • Al-Qaeda, TTP members in possession of Pakistani ID cards: report

    Al-Qaeda, TTP members in possession of Pakistani ID cards: report

    Members of Al-Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Indian and Afghan nationals have been found to be in possession of Pakistani Identity Cards (ID), according to a government report.

    The report was presented by Senator Faisal Sabzwari of the Muttahida Qaumi Moment Pakistan (MQM) in the Senate Standing Committee on Interior.

    It states that some arrested Afghan citizens had ID cards issued by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Karachi where allegedly 50% to 60% of employees are involved in corruption.

    According to the report, Abdullah Baloch of Al-Qaeda and an Indian citizen who was involved in the Safoora Goth also had an identity card.

    NADRA chairman Muhammad Tariq Malik said that the matter is under investigation, 12 officers have been arrested and 29 have been suspended.

  • 2018 vs 2020: Is Karachi done with Imran’s PTI?

    After a rather troubled polling day, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has managed to secure a comfortable win in Karachi’s PS-88 Malir by-election for a seat in the Sindh Assembly, unofficial results issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) have revealed.

    But does that mean that the people of Karachi are done with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) amid economic among other challenges faced by the country?

    According to journalist Ajmal Jami, that might be the case, at least in Malir, and here’s why…

    The PPP was the only party that not only retained the number of votes received in the 2018 general election, but went on to secure even more.

    The PPP secured 24,251 votes in the 2021 by-election as compared to 22,561 in 2018, whereas the PTI and its allied Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) received merely 4,870 votes against 2018’s 16,386 and 2,635 votes against 5,207, respectively.

    Hardliner Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which had received 7,694 votes in 2018, bagged only 6,090 this year.

    Earlier, polling for the PS-88 by-election — that was slated to be a hot contest between the PPP and PTI — was marred by allegations of vote rigging, violence and intimidation as all contesting parties traded charges against each other.

    The winning candidate, PPP’s Yousuf Murtaza Baloch, is the son of Murtaza Baloch, the former minister for human settlement.

    The seat fell vacant after Murtaza died of COVID-19 in June last year.

  • KYA BOLA? (Aug 27): ‘PML-N ko Pakistan bananay ki sazaa’ to ‘Nawaz Sharif ki siyasat mein wapsi’

    KYA BOLA? (Aug 27): ‘PML-N ko Pakistan bananay ki sazaa’ to ‘Nawaz Sharif ki siyasat mein wapsi’

    Following are some snippets that stood out from Urdu newspapers on August 27, 2020, which The Current takes no responsibility for.

    ‘PML-N Ko Pakistan Bananay Ki Sazaa’

    It has been reported by Daily Jang that PML-N senior leader Ahsan Iqbal has said,“Muslim League Noon ko Pakistan bananay ki sazaa mil rahi hai… humein yaqeen hai Askari idaro ka hukoomat ki intaqami karwaiyo se koi taaluq nahi.” 

    ‘PPP K Sindh Mein 12 Saal’

    According to Daily Jang, MQM-P leader Khushbakht Shujaat has said, “Karachi ki abaadi aur raqba itna barra hai k isay alehda intazami unit banana hoga… Sindh hukoomat ne 12 saal se districts ko share nahi dia.

    ‘Nawaz Sharif Ki Siyasat Mein Wapsi’

    It was reported by Daily Dunya that former attorney general Irfan Qadir has said, “Nawaz Sharif pr NAB ki janib se dabaao barhta jaa rha hai. NAB mein Maryam Nawaz ki paishi se zahir hota tha k shayad Nawaz Sharif siyasat mein active honay jaa rahay hain.”

  • VIDEO: ‘Mera Yeh Bharam Hai, Mere Paas Tum Ho,’ Farooq Sattar tells party workers

    VIDEO: ‘Mera Yeh Bharam Hai, Mere Paas Tum Ho,’ Farooq Sattar tells party workers

    As the finale of drama serial ‘Mere Paas Tum Ho’ approaches and its fever only heightens, politicians appear to have submitted themselves to the hit TV show’s popularity as well, which was proven by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Bahali Committee leader Dr Farooq Sattar.

    “I was asked what I had with me now that I was neither an MNA nor a party head, to which with my hand on my chest I replied, ‘Mera Yeh Bharam Hai, Mere Paas Tum Ho’,” he can be heard as saying while addressing a public gathering in Karachi, in a video doing rounds over the internet.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The video shows the ex-MQM-P leader quoting the lyrics of the hit drama serial’s OST as he points towards the crowd.

    Sattar, a former convener and leader of the MQM-P, was removed by the Rabita Committee in February 2018. The same day, he dissolved the committee and called for fresh intra-party election to elect new leader of the party. In March 2018, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) removed him as the convener of the party.

    A few days later, Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended the decision of the ECP and reinstated Sattar as the convener, but in June 2018, removed Sattar as the same. On November 9, 2018, for violating party discipline, his basic membership of MQM-P was revoked.

    In the 2018 general election, Sattar lost in both the constituencies he contested from: NA-245 Karachi East 4 and NA-247 Karachi South 2.

  • MQM to quit PTI’s ruling coalition, help opposition topple Imran govt?

    MQM to quit PTI’s ruling coalition, help opposition topple Imran govt?

    Soon after Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari asked the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) to break away from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in centre and join the Sindh government, the MQM-P has expressed dissatisfaction over the federal government’s performance.

    According to The News, Bilawal had on Monday offered PTI’s ruling partners, the MQM-P, stakes in the Sindh government, saying Sindh and Karachi could only get their share of development if Imran’s government collapsed.

    “You can stop this injustice being done with Karachi and Pakistan by breaking your alliance with the PTI and toppling Imran Khan’s government to save Karachi, and we will fully support you. For the sake of Karachi, for the sake of the people of Karachi, we are ready to offer to the MQM[-P] in Sindh, as many ministries as they have in the centre today,” a very charged PPP chief had said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of four mega development projects in Korangi.

    While extending his offer, Bilawal had repeatedly called for toppling Imran’s government as he tried to persuade the MQM-P to break its alliance with the PTI in centre. He made the unexpected offer while Mayor of Karachi Waseem Akhtar — who belongs to the MQM-P — was attending the inaugural ceremony along with Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah.

    It wasn’t later that the MQM-P reacted to the offer by saying that they “hadn’t joined the PTI for ministries”.

    Dunya News quoted an MQM-P spokesperson as clarifying that the alliance with PTI “was for the benefit of Karachi and not to get ministries”. He further said that MQM-P’s politics were all about serving people; however, he reportedly expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the federal government.

    “Transfer powers to local governments instead of making offers of ministries,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying soon after Mayor Waseem Akhtar said that the MQM-P “could join anyone for the betterment of the people”.

    RULING COALITION:

    The PTI and its allies on one side and opposition parties on the other have closely contested their positions in the National Assembly.

    Given their respective numerical strengths, the ruling coalition has around 225 lawmakers while the opposition has nearly 221 members and the simple majority of the total lawmakers of 446 (342 MNAs and 104 senators) comes to 224.

    The PTI has 156 members of the National Assembly. Its allies have varying numbers. The Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) have five members each; Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has seven MPs; Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) has three lawmakers; Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) has four MNAs and Awami Muslim League and Jamhoori Watan Party have one member each besides the support of two independents.

    They all come to 184.

    In the Lower House of Parliament, the PML-N has 84 MNAs; Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has 55 MPs; Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has 16 members; and Awami National Party (ANP) has one lawmaker. Two independents stand with the opposition parties. In the Senate, the PTI is supported by 15 legislators, the MQM-P by 5 senators, the BAP by two MPs, and BNP-M and PML-Functional by one each. If the decisive number of 16 senators, including those elected from the erstwhile tribal areas are placed in the government pocket, the total strength of the PTI and its allies comes to 39 senators.

    With BNP-M likely to defect from the ruling coalition and the MQM-P being offered ministries in Sindh, any changes to the hung parliament in favour of the opposition parties could be fatal for the PTI government.