KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Saturday warned of launching a protest movement if the federal government failed to ensure implementation of its March 30, 2022 agreement with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), claiming that none of the accord’s 18 points had been implemented.
Addressing a press conference in Karachi, MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar said the agreement was signed by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui during the formation of the coalition government in 2022.
Sattar said the agreement did not include any demand by MQM-P to join the Sindh government, seek provincial ministries or gain control over provincial resources.
Instead, he said, the accord focused on ensuring stability in Sindh, the development of Karachi and equal rights for all citizens.
He noted that the first clause of the agreement called for implementation of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Article 140A of the Constitution, under which political, administrative and financial powers were to be devolved to cities, districts and local government institutions within one month.
Sattar said the agreement had remained unimplemented despite repeated reminders from MQM-P. He added that the party’s grievance was directed at the PPP, the Sindh government and its leadership, including President Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who had signed the accord.
Referring to Bilawal’s recent remarks in the National Assembly, Sattar said the PPP chairman had stated on the floor of the House that MQM-P’s concerns also involved the federal government.
He urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who he described as a witness and guarantor of the agreement, to play his role in ensuring its implementation.
Sattar warned that if the agreement continued to be ignored, MQM-P would launch a protest movement, with the party’s central committee deciding the timing and location of the campaign.
He said MQM-P was seeking immediate action on four key demands: implementation of Article 140A through a formally notified committee, a larger urban development package for Karachi, progress on the issue of missing persons, and the return of the Sindh governorship to MQM-P.
Sattar further warned that if no progress was made on these demands, the party’s 22 members in the National Assembly could consider moving to the opposition benches.
Memon accuses MQM-P of political blackmail
Responding to Sattar’s press conference, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said MQM-P still believed in shortcut politics rather than relying on the public mandate.
He alleged that the party was using issues such as federal intervention as tools for political pressure, describing the strategy as evidence of political blackmail.
Memon said MQM-P had lost the trust of the people, remained haunted by memories of power and continued searching for shortcuts to regain political relevance.
He further stated that any proposal to hand over Sindh’s affairs to the federal government amounted to a reprehensible conspiracy against the country’s federal structure.