Farooq Sattar says PM Shehbaz, as a witness and guarantor of the agreement, should play his role to ensure its implementation
MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar addressing a press conference in Karachi. Photo: screenshot
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Saturday warned against launching a protest movement if the federal government did not play its role in ensuring implementation of the March 30, 2022 agreement between the party and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), saying none of the 18 articles of the agreement had been implemented.
Speaking at a press conference in Karachi, MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar said the agreement was signed by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and MQM-P President Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui during the formation of the coalition government in 2022.
He said the agreement did not include any demand from the MQM-P to join the Sindh government, seek provincial ministries or gain authority over provincial resources.
Sattar said the agreement stipulated that there should be stability in Sindh, development of Karachi and equality for all. He said the first point called for implementation of the Supreme Court judgment on Article 140A, under which political, administrative and financial powers were to be transferred to cities, districts and local government institutions within a month.
He said the agreement was not implemented despite repeated reminders from the MQM-P, saying the MQM-P’s complaint was against the PPP, the Sindh government and its officials, including President Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who had signed the agreement.
Sattar said Bilawal had recently told the assembly that the MQM-P’s problems also concerned the federal government.
Read: MQM-P demands publication of investigation report on Gul Plaza
Sattar said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as a witness and guarantor of the agreement, should play his role to ensure its implementation. He said if the agreement was not implemented, the MQM-P would launch a protest movement, with the party’s central committee deciding when and where it would begin.
He said the MQM-P wanted immediate action on four demands: implementation of Article 140A through a notified committee, a broader urban development agenda for Karachi, progress on the issue of missing persons and return of the Sindh governorship to the MQM-P.
Sattar said that if no action was taken on these demands, the 22 MQM-P members in the National Assembly could seek access to the opposition benches.
MQM-P still believes in the policy of shortcuts: Memon
Sindh Chief Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, reacting to Farooq Sattar’s press conference, said the MQM-P always believed in political shortcuts rather than public mandate. Using issues such as federal intervention as political pressure tools is evidence of the MQM-P’s political blackmail.
He said the MQM-P had lost the trust of the people, was haunted by memories of power and was looking for shortcuts.
Memon said the idea of handing over the affairs of Sindh to the federation was an objectionable conspiracy against the federal structure.
