KARACHI, Pakistan: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has asked the federal government to accept its members’ resignations from the legislators as it is not willing to further carrying out the dialogue process with the government.
In a statement published on the MQM website, the party said that decision was taken at an emergency joint session of Rabita Committees of the MQM in London and Karachi.
The statement said that the government did not give value to the role of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman as a mediator to reconcile differences between the party and the government.
The party also condemned the behaviour of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif when he visited Karachi on Thursday, terming it arrogant and threatening.
The MQM announced that it will temporarily abandon parliamentary politics and focus on the establishment of a province and welfare activities.
On August 12, the MQM lawmakers had tendered their resignations from the National Assembly, Senate and the Sindh Assembly due to reservations over the Rangers-led operation in Karachi.
Later, the prime minister assigned a task to the JUI-F Chief of persuading the MQM lawmakers to withdraw their resignations and continue to play their positive role in the Parliament.
The JUI-F Chief on Tuesday visited the MQM nine zero headquarters in Karachi to convince the party to withdraw resignations of its legislators. However, his mission remain unfinished because talks were halted after the MQM leader Rashid Godil was shot in Karachi’s Bahadurabad area.
Meanwhile, the Federal Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said in an interview that the government wants the MQM to remain part of the Parliament.
However, the minister said that there would be no compromise on Karachi operation as it was started with consensus of all political parties including the MQM.
