PML-N rushes to bridge growing MQM-PPP fissures

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided on Sunday to send a team of troubleshooters to Karachi for placating the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan after the party opposed the Sindh government's decision to hold local government elections in the metropolis and Hyderabad under the existing delimitation.

Minutes after the MQM-P threatened at a presser in Karachi to approach the Election Commission of Pakistan against what he called "jerrymandering", federal Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq called MQM-P leader Aminul Haque and informed him that he would visit his party's office on Monday (today) in order to address its concerns.

According to sources, a federal government delegation would hold talks with MQM-P leaders and is also likely to meet the Pakistan Peoples Party leadership in order to find a way out for holding the Jan 15 polls in time.

"Sardar Sadiq assured the MQM-P leader that the delegation, in line with the PM's directives, will take all stakeholders on board and do its best to address the party's concerns," said a source privy to the telephonic conversation.

Khalid rejects Jan 15 LG polls under existing delimitation; Ayaz due in Karachi today

Earlier, a hurriedly called meeting of the Muttahida's coordination committee discussed the development and charted a fresh line of action in case the "situation remains unchanged". The meeting was chaired by Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, the party's convener.

Dr Siddiqui expressed fears that local bodies elections in Karachi under the existing delimitation would be against the city's mandate, vowing to approach a court and the Election Commission of Pakistan for "justice".

He admitted that the PPP had accepted a number of Muttahida's demands under the Charter of Rights the two parties had signed in April, but made it clear that "we stand by our demand for a fresh census and delimitation before any electoral exercise in urban Sindh".