In a last ditch effort to woo an unruly ally – Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) – a government delegation Wednesday conveyed the message of Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking its support in the upcoming vote of no-confidence motion against him.

The government delegation comprising Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, defence minister Pervez Khattak and planning and development minister Asad Umar, according to sources, said the MQM-P leadership was told “it is Imran Khan vs the corrupt trio [Zardari, Shehbaz Sharif, and Maulana Fazlur Rehman] who have damaged the country to the point of no return.”

They said that the MQM-P leadership was assured “all their genuine demands with regard to Karachi” would be addressed as the prime minister himself is concerned about the issues confronting the port city.

The MQM-P leadership was of the view that nothing has been done for Karachi despite commitments by the prime minister.

They also said that deputy convener MQM-P Wasim Akhtar made many complaints against the prime minister, saying the party opted to be part of PTI-led coalition government with a hope to serve the people of the city, but nothing has been done despite passage of three and a half years.

The sources said that the government team reiterated that the city is close to the heart of the prime minister, and “it is a guarantee that all-out efforts” would be made to transform the city which has been turned into a “filth” due to poor governance of Zardari-led PPP into a modern city of Jinnah.

The MQM delegation includes Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Wasim Akhtar and Aminul Haq, Khawaja Izhar ul Hassan and Javed Hanif.

This story was first published in Business Recorder on March 24, 2022.