MQM-P announced to resign from federal cabinet

MQM-P announced to resign from federal cabinet 

A big blow to PTI government

In a big blow to PTI government- Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has announced to leave the federal cabinet of PM Imran Khan. PTI federal government cannot maintain its simple majority in the national assembly without the support of MQM-P and BNP-Mengal. PTI and its allies have a thin majority of 4 votes. PTI government needs the support of MQM-P to maintain its tiny majority.

This was announced by convener and federal Minister for Information Technology, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui in a press conference in Karachi. He announced to resign as federal minister. "We had supported [PTI] in forming the government. We are not taking back our cooperation.”

Khalid Maqbool said that “we supported PTI government. We held up our end of the deal but not even one point of our demands has seen any progress in these 16, 17 months. We signed two agreements with the PTI before joining the government: one in Banigala and another in Bahadurabad on some conditions."

MQM-P leader said when his party became part of the government; it had promised to provide support in forming the government and had promised to support PTI in every difficult stage. "We have fulfilled our promise and intend to fulfill our promise.”

Siddiqui lamented that after 16-17 months, not even one point regarding the conditions in Sindh had seen progress. "At this point, it becomes difficult for me to remain in the government, that I [continue to] hold a minister's position, and people in Sindh continue to face the conditions they did before we joined the [federal] government."

According to the MQM-P leader if the party had seen "some seriousness" on these matters it may have waited a little longer. "The lack of seriousness on these matters left us no choice," he said, adding that MQM-P's Rabita Committee (Coordination Committee) had held a detailed discussion on Friday after which it had concluded that it was useless for him to hold the minister's post.

The MQM-P senior leader denied that his decision owed anything to Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's proposal to help topple the PTI government in exchange for ministries in Sindh government. "This has nothing to do with that. “ We had presented our demands before the ruling party but none were addressed during the past sixteen months and it is now pointless to be in the cabinet anymore.

Despite quitting the federal cabinet, the MQM-P leader said that his party will not be withdrawing its support to the government. “We will continue to support the government of PM Imran Khan.”

                               Political reporter