KARACHI: Another leaked audio making rounds on social media has highlighted the challenges faced by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) in its talks with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for government formation.
Earlier, an audio clip attributed to Mustafa Kamal went viral on the internet in which he revealed to the party’s Rabita Committee that apparently PML-N is not in the mood to hold talks with them and accused the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of attempting to corner them.
Kamal has confirmed the audio to be genuine.
In the latest audio, Tessori — who is a also member of the MQM-P’s committee that has been tasked with negotiating with other political parties — could be heard saying that the party is paying the cost of becoming part of the Shahbaz Sharif-led coalition.
“We were part of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government when PML-N and PPP were in the opposition. We supported the PDM [Pakistan Democratic Movement], which angered our voters,” Tessori said in the audio which could not be independently verified.
“The MQM-P got seven seats despite all the hurdles [in 2018 elections] which was our vote bank. We didn’t get the vote today [in the 2024 polls]. The party is being offered one ministry [Information Technology] as part of government and they are bringing their own governor in Sindh as well.”
Tessori further said that the party would face severe consequences if they entered into an alliance.
In the alleged audio that appears to be of an MQM-P meeting, the Sindh governor said that the PPP is pressurising the PML-N to sideline the party.
Reacting to the leaked audio, the Sindh governor’s spokesperson admitted that the audio is Tessori’s but “it has been taken out of context”. “The voice in the audio circulating in media is Sindh governor’s but some things have been presented out of context through editing,” the spox said.
He further stated that Kamal has given a detailed statement in this regard.
In the first audio clip that went viral on social media Tuesday evening, Kamal revealed to the party’s Rabita Committee that apparently PML-N is not in the mood to hold talks with MQM-P and accused the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of attempting to corner them.
Kamal could be heard briefing the party’s coordination committee about their discussion with the PML-N.
“They [the PML-N] didn’t seem in the mood to talk to us…,” Kamal can be heard as saying, adding that yet they spoke “for the sake of engagement” for about 40 to 45 minutes. –Agencies
