“PPP violated agreement with MQM-P during Local bodies elections,” alleges Wasim Akhtar

Former mayor Karachi and Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Wasim Akhtar has accused the coalition partner Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of violating the agreement and ‘stealing’ his party’s mandate in the first phase of local bodies elections in Sindh.

Addressing a press conference in Karachi, former Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar said that the MQM’s agreement with the PPP clearly stated that both the parties would accept each other’s mandate and protect it.

In Sindh, the ruling People’s Party and the MQM-P signed an agreement against the PTI government in March this year, assuring the MQM-P that if they support the coalition opposition to remove Imran Khan, then the new government will meet all their age-old demands.

The demands of the MQM were agreed in this agreement, ranging from the structure of the local government to the formula for future government participation and the policy of recruiting police at the local level in Sindh.

The first point of the so-called ‘Charter of Rights’ agreement was directly related to the local government in Sindh, in which both the parties had agreed that the decision of the Supreme Court on the constitutional petition filed by MQM-P regarding local governments would be implemented within a month and with mutual agreement.

During the press conference, Wasim Akhtar said that out of all the points included in the agreement, this was the most important point which the Sindh government had violated during the local body elections in 14 districts.

He claimed that in many areas his party’s candidates were in the lead with good margins but the results were withheld and our mandate was not accepted.

He urged the Sindh Chief Minister to meet the Election Commission of Pakistan and review the zoning.