Muttahida Qaumi Movement Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said on Sunday that his party had not reached an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz. He added that voters could be disappointed if candidates fall out of the race in favour of others.

Speaking to Shaukat Pirachs in Rubaroo on Sunday, Siddiqui said he hoped that the date of elections in 2024 would indeed be set in stone.

He added that out of the entire country, polls were needed the most in Karachi. He added that the city was represented by an ‘artificial’ leadership and the city’s mandate was not reflected in the legislatures.

Siddiqui said that while immediate elections were the need of the hour, they should be have the condition of being unbiased and transparent and whould seem so.

He said that one party was expressing satisfaction over the conditions in Sindh meaning there was a massive pre-poll rigging program planned.

Referring to PPP without naming it, Siddiqui said that if a party was given free reign for 15 years it was easy for it to strengthen its roots by having influence in bureaucracy, administration and even the caretaker government.

The MQM leader said that the party would not leave the ground empty and would participate in the elections at all costs so the party would at least be able to make noise about the rigging that would inevitably take place.

As for the local bodies election in Karachi, Siddiqui said that entire UCs had been stolen through delimitations. He added that 53 UCs had been added to Karachi’s account after the elctions had taken place.

He said that moral victories also had to be considered in elections. He said that 6% votes had been cast. He said that Jamaat-e-Islami had received even less votes than the 2015 elections and the PPP had never had any claim on the city’s mandate.

Siddiqui said that the 14 people who won elections in 2018 had no roots in the city whatsoever.

He added that MQM lived in the hearts of people and it did not matter if they were beaten in elections through illegal means. He added that the party had not made it to the assembly in 1993 but it had not made any difference.

He said that there was no problem if any party genuinely replaced the MQM in Karachi but to do that it would have to organically live within the residents of the city.

Siddiqui said that MQM was made of professional people who could live better lives if they were not involved in politics. He said that the party had lived its members lives but they could live their own lives too if they wanted.

He said that the party believed that Karachi’s population had been undercounted by 7.5 million residents and the party would recover them eventually.

The convener said that while Nawaz Sharif was expected to visit in Karachi but a date had not been finalised yet. He added that there was no reason for cooperation not to take place between the two parties.

He added that the MQM had discussed with PMLN that the next government in Pakistan should be empowered to improve the lives of the country’s ordinary citizens.

However, he clarified that while there should be cooperation between the parties, the deatails of this would work were still being negotiated and there was no alliance in place so far.

Asked how many seats PMLN wanted an adjustment on, Siddiqui said that the matter had not come up for discussion yet.

He added that it was everyone’s right to contest elections in Karachi but the city’s own residents were not allowed to contest anywhere else.

The convener added that seat adjustments could lead to disappointment among voters as they might want to support one party but could find that their candidate has dropped out to support someone else.

He added that MQM did not want to lose principles to win elections.

Siddiqui said that MQM voters listened to its leaders to vote for others but other parties were not prepared to do so in return.

He added that it would be ideal if no one needed MQM to form government and the party could sit in opposition like 2013.

However, he added that if someone needed MQM’s help there were three conditions that were not political but actual needs of Pakistan. He added that the conditions were all constitutional amendments.

Siddiqui added that MQM’s main opponents are its own perception and the policy which had managed the elections of 2018.