KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday held a meeting with the leadership of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), a member of the ruling coalition, as Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the party extended its “full support” to the premier.
وزیر اعظم عمران خان سے ایم کیو ایم پاکستان کی سینئر قیادت کی کراچی میں ملاقات
سیاسی صورتحال پر تبادلہ خیال
ایم کیو ایم کی طرف سے مکمل حمایت کی یقین دہانی pic.twitter.com/KTzVDNTEN4
— Prime Minister’s Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) March 9, 2022
The meeting came a day after opposition parties moved a no-confidence motion seeking the ouster of the prime minister.
In a press talk following the meeting, Qureshi said Khan and the party discussed the political situation in the country.
The two parties, MQM-P and the PTI, “are partners and will continue to support each other,” said Qureshi. During the meeting, the prime minister formulated and finalised his strategy to fight the no-trust vote, he added.
“MQM has assured to lent its full support to Khan. It did not present any demands,” claimed the foreign minister.
“MQM-P did not share its grievances or made any [political] demands, including the opening of its offices […] including its Nine Zero headquarters and Khurshid Memorial Secretariat,” he said.
The offices were sealed following an incendiary speech of party founder Altaf Hussain in 2016.
Khan arrived in Karachi on a day-long visit to hold meetings with the members of the ruling coalition from Sindh.
The prime minister was received by leaders of the PTI and MQM-P on his arrival at the latter’s temporary headquarters in the Bahadurabad neighbourhood. He was accompanied by Qureshi, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, and Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi.
Footage of Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI‘s arrival at MQM (P) Office in Karachi. pic.twitter.com/F2kPSQEAMJ
— Prime Minister’s Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) March 9, 2022
After his meeting with MQM-P leaders, the premier arrived at Sindh Governor House, where he held a meeting with GDA leaders and discussed the overall political situation in the country.
Later, MQM-P leader Amir Khan told media that during the meeting, no discussion took place on the no confidence motion with the prime minister.
“It was a good gesture from the prime minister, who came to our office after a gap of three and a half years,” he told journalists.
He insisted that his party did not complain to the prime minister about “anything”.
Responding to a question on whether the MQM-P was supporting the no-trust move, Khan said his party was an ally of the government “but our options are open”.
When asked to shed light on details of the meeting with PM Imran, the MQM-P leader refused to divulge anything, saying, “We cannot tell you about what we discussed in detail.”
Meanwhile, MQM-P convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, while answering a question on the no-confidence motion, said that his party did not have any confidence in the “entire system”.
He said that during the meeting the MQM-P sought no reassurance from the prime minister on Karachi’s administrative issues.
When asked whether the MQM-P would support the premier in the opposition’s planned parliamentary maneuvre against him, Siddiqui responded: “We are supporting him that is why he is still the prime minister till now.”
NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION:
On Tuesday, the opposition submitted a formal request requiring Khan to seek a parliamentary vote of confidence, accusing him of mismanaging the economy and poor governance in the toughest challenge he has faced since taking power in August 2018.
A total of 86 MPs, mostly from the two major opposition parties — the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — signed the application submitted to the speaker of the National Assembly.
With the help of several smaller parties, the PTI currently holds a narrow majority in the National Assembly. It has 179 seats in the 342-member House, only seven more than required for a simple majority.
The opposition, on the other hand, has 162 members and needs a simple majority of 172 to topple the government. “We will have more than 172 votes,” claimed former president Asif Ali Zardari.
The move came after the opposition, led by the PPP, rallied thousands of supporters to demonstrate against Khan, raising the prospect of political turmoil in the nuclear-armed nation.
“Resign in 24 hours and face us in an election,” PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari told the rally just outside Islamabad. “Or be prepared for a no-confidence motion.”
The speaker, Asad Qaiser, must now convene parliament within two weeks, though it could take weeks before a vote takes place.
Khan vowed to fight any move to unseat him. “Whatever they do, I’m ready for that,” he told a gathering in Islamabad.
Opposition leaders claim Khan has lost public support as he struggles with high inflation, a rising current account deficit and depleting foreign reserves.
Khan has responded to economic problems with cuts in fuel and electricity prices, while rejecting calls to step down and warning the opposition of unspecified consequences if they force a vote of no-confidence.
Both the opposition and Khan’s party are riven by factions. The prime minister won a confidence vote last year by six votes.
