KARACHI - After hesitantly leaning towards the PTI for days, MQM-P has finally made up its mind to join the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in forming the federal government.

The confirmation came on Wednesday after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) declined to participate in the Multi-Party Conference (MPC) called to form a grand opposition in the National Assembly.

MQM sources said that two leaders each from both PTI and MQM will sit together to settle the modalities of their alliance. They will then place the draft agreement before their respective party leadership for approval.

They said that MQM would sit on the treasury benches after voting for PTI chief Imran Khan for the prime minister slot, but will not immediately get any ministries. They however added that the party would definitely try to get its due share in the government later on.

Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Peoples Party – which is set to form government in Sindh – had told the MQM to choose between joining the federal and Sindh governments.

The Karachi-based party had bagged 16 Sindh Assembly seats and six National Assembly seats in the July 25 general elections, and PTI had invited it to join it to form government at the Centre.

The MQM initially responded positively but later started showing reluctance, probably in a bid to secure maximum out of its marriage with Khan’s party.

Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair in a telephonic chat with MQM leader Faisal Sabzwari invited them to the ‘APC’ of the parties who are expected to sit on opposition benches at the Centre. But the MQM coordination committee decided to distance itself from the previous coalition partners.

Sabzwari, who is MQM-P coordination committee member, confirmed on Wednesday night that they had decided not to attend the Multi-Party Conference called by the PPP which will be held today (Thursday) in Islamabad.

Interestingly, in its first post-polls power show, the MQM today is going to stage a protest demonstration outside the Election Commission office against alleged rigging in the general elections.

The party that enjoyed almost monopoly in the politics of Karachi have suffered a major blow in the 2018 elections. It could win only six national assembly seats in contrast to 24 seats that it had secured in 2013 polls.

But despite the setback, MQM’s importance is evident from the fact that PTI – the biggest political force in the national assembly – is trying its best to woo it as without its support the chances of Khan’s becoming prime minister would decrease.

PTI senior leader Jahangir Tareen a couple of days ago had visited the MQM-P headquarter in Bahadurabad and sought their support in the elections of PM, national assembly speaker and deputy speaker.

On the other hand, the opposition parties including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz are trying their best to include the MQM-P in the grand opposition.

Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’, MQM-P convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui confirmed his party’s leaning towards the PTI.

“The Pakistan Peoples’ Party does not need anyone in Sindh. The MQM-P will sit alongside the PTI on government benches,” he said.

“We respect everyone’s mandate and want everyone to respect ours,” he said. He added that after a ‘series of [bad] experiences’ it was unlikely to join the PPP.

To a question, Siddiqui also confirmed that his party will not be attending the All Parties’ Conference on Thursday. “We are not aspirant of any office or ministry position”, he however said.

The party convener further said that Karachi has an issue of sewerage and water scarcity, adding that the demands of the MQM-P representatives will not change.

MQM-Pakistan MNA and coordination committee member Ameenul Haq said they had many reservations with the PPP and the PML-N due to their past attitude.

He said MQM had decided to vote for the PTI chief Imran Khan for PM slot but they have yet to decide if they will take any ministries. The final decision in this regard will be taken in few days, he added.

Most of the MQM-P leaders are in favour of joining the government as they believe that when the PML-Q with its four seats can get its desired position why MQM should not do the same when it has six seats in the national assembly.

By-polls on Imran’s seat

Karachi is likely to witness another by-election in the coming weeks as PTI chairman Imran Khan had vacated his NA-243, challenging the MQM-P to get its lost turf back as well as well as presenting a chance to other PTI aspirants to secure the party ticket and get elected.

According to sources, MQM-defector Rashhed Godial, Fixit campaigner Almagir Khan and Asharf Jabbar Qureshi are among those vying for the party ticket here.

On the other hand, the MQM-P is likely to again filed Syed Ali Raza Abidi – who lost the contest to Imran by a big margin of almost 70,000 votes.

Abidi had already demanded a re-election in the constituency, saying that recounting would not be enough as he was well aware how Imran was declared the winner. He claimed that he had as many 500 affidavits of the polling agents of different parties who were thrown out of stations.

The sources said that after facing defeats in other constituencies many other MQM leaders would also be trying to secure the party ticket for NA-243 but Abidi is the leading candidate.

Despite the alliance with the MQM-P in the federal government, the PTI does not seems willing to give it an open field and is marshalling its troops for the by-election.

In the general election, Imran secured over 90,000 votes – followed by Abidi who could get around 22,000 votes.

The PTI chief won from five different constituencies and he decided to retain his hometown constituency in Mianwali and vacate the constituencies of Karachi, Bannu, Lahore and Islamabad.