Karachi: The Muttahi Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has said that it will have no reason to be part of the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government if any unilateral decision is made regarding the change of the Sindh governor.
“The Sindh governor belongs to the MQM-P It was decided in meetings with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that Tessori would remain the governor,” senior MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar said.
The MQM-P warning comes as last week sources said that the PML-N-led federal government has come to terms with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which rules Sindh, to replace Tessori with the former’s leader and ex-Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) chief Bashir Memon.
Sattar outrightly dismissed the rumours, saying: “No one talked to us nor did any consultation take place.”
The former Karachi mayor’s views were echoed by his colleague Khajawa Izharul Hassan who also dismissed the potential removal of Tessori citing a social contract which provisioned representation of the province’s urban areas via the governor when the chief minister belonged to the rural areas.
However, presenting the Centre’s point of view on the matter, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has said that a decision on the issue of the Sindh governor post is expected soon.
However, he refuted the reports suggesting the appointment of PML-N’s Memon for the said post.
The MQM-P, is a key ally of the PM Shehbaz-led government whose future hangs in a delicate balance owing to the slim majority of the ruling coalition, especially after the July 12 Supreme Court verdict that not only resurrected the PTI in the assemblies but also declared it eligible for reserved seats.
