MQM-P head Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui has claimed that the country has no major economic crisis.

“It is rather the priorities of the government that does not want to tax the rich. There is a need to put the state above politics. We should take decisions without thinking about how it will affect our popularity in the upcoming elections,” he said on Shaukat Piracha show on Aaj News show Rubaroo on Friday.

He was against an extension in the tenure of the assemblies, saying that if the federal government opts for extending the tenure, then it will be required to provide a proper excuse for doing it.

“While the Constitution allows extending assemblies for a year, it is not a solution to the problem,” Siddiqui said.

While referring to PTI’s decision to support Pakistan’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund, he said that the former ruling party had no other option than to agree with the lender’s conditions and policies.

“The situation has been evolving in the country and the PTI’s view has also changed according to the situation,” Siddiqui said, however, he questioned the efficiency of the IMF programme. “How will $3 billion be enough for a country with a population of 250 million? We need to collect taxes while giving relief to the working class to stabilise the economy.”

Responding to a question regarding similarities between the PTI chief Imran Khan and MQM founder Altaf Hussain, he said that the two leaders and the parties are miles apart.

“Both parties’ reasons for emergence were different. They bred in different environments and stepped into politics with different strategies,” Siddiqui added.

According to him, the party leaders distanced themselves from Hussain after feeling that the MQM founder’s speeches were tarnishing the image of Pakistan.

The PTI leaders are sticking with the party chief because they “may have contacts somewhere”, he added.

While talking about the local government in Karachi, he said that MQM boycotted the LG elections due to “pre-poll riggings” such as delimitation and reducing the number of UCs.

“Now that Murtaza Wahab has been elected as Mayor Karachi, there is no excuse for him not to work for the citizen as he has the full backing of the provincial government,” he said.

Siddiqui said that for 15 years, Karachi has been ruled by those who do not have even 5% of the city’s mandate. “The PPP has been ruling in the province for 15 years now but could not solve the water issue of Karachi.”