The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has once again demonstrated its appetite for power corridors and has jumped ship when it saw the ship of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is sinking. In order to oust the current prime minister, the MQM-P has left its allyship with the PTI and joined the opposition parties. PTI’s government is dependent on many of its allies, such as the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), the MQM-P, the Grand Democratic Alliance and the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP). However, the allyship did not pass the test of time and turned out to be turncoats at the very first harsh wave. The PTI was only able to save PML-Q’s support for itself by making Punjab’s Chief Minister Usman Buzdar resign and nominating PML-Q’s leader Parvez Elahi for the seat of chief minister of the province. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was hopeful that the allies will not betray PTI as he gave a statement with full confidence that PTI’s allies will never join the opposition as they are honourable people who do not sell themselves but the allies proved to be unfaithful after all. The opposition parties have been working day and night to gather allies in order to remove Prime Minister Imran Khan from the position of power. They were able to coax MQM-P to their side with the help of the PPP. Although a deal has been made between the PPP and MQM-P, there is a lot of baggage to unpack with regards to the two.
The PPP and the MQM-P have always been rival parties in Sindh. With the MQM-P taking a lead in the urban centres and the PPP gaining support from rural areas, both parties have always been in each other’s hair. The MQM-P has always had a stronghold in Karachi since its early days and it is sufficient for the party to have support from there only. One of the reasons that MQM-P has put forward for its betrayal is also the neglect that Karachi faced during the past three years. Although a deal has been struck, it will not be long that the MQM-P and the PPP will be fighting over Sindh’s urban centres once again. The marriage is only for convenience and will last a short while. If they are to remain in a happy relationship, then Sindh may benefit from this marriage however, the odds are never in favour of the citizens. Given the history of the party, it did not come as a shocker but MQM’s seats were extremely important for PTI to keep its majority in the lower house. Now that it is not there anymore, it is likely that Imran Khan will be removed from the prime ministership and once again the musical chairs will start. This turning of coats will be the last nail in the coffin of Imran Khan’s time as the prime minister in this term.
