Two MQM-P federal ministers – Aminul Haque and Farogh Naseem – Wednesday stepped down after the party late Tuesday night decided to support the joint opposition on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. Minister for Law and Justice Farogh Naseem and Minister for Information Technology Syed Aminul Haque tendered their resignations to Prime Minister Imran Khan. The notification to accept the resignations will be issued with the approval of the premier, says a news report. According to the MQM-P members, the ministers could not resolve their differences with the government because of the government’s “slow-going nature” and because PM Imran was a “victim of his ego”.
They claimed that – prior to the no-trust move – the premier sent his ministers for negotiations but never came himself, whereas the entire leadership of the joint opposition repeatedly visited the MQM-P members. They further said it was too late even if the premier did decide to meet with them now, as they had already made their decision, adding that the Raabita Committee meeting would simply ratify the written agreement with the opposition. In a brief media talk held following the meeting of Raabita Committee at the party’s Bahadurabad Markaz in Karachi – attended by senior leaders via Skype from Islamabad – MQM-P leader Nasreen Jalil confirmed that the committee had ratified the agreement signed with the joint opposition. It should be noted that with the separation of MQM-P from the government, the ruling coalition will have 164 members, while the united opposition will be 177 members. The joint opposition and MQM-P finally reached an agreement late Tuesday night. “The united opposition and MQM-P have reached an agreement. The MQM-P’s Rabita Committee and the PPP’s CEC will ratify the said agreement. We will then share the details with the media at a news conference. Congratulations Pakistan,” PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tweeted.
