From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz senior vice president and former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that PML-N has political connections with Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and both parties are focused to empower democracy in the country, media reported on Thursday.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, while addressing a joint press conference along with MQM Pakistan convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, said the PML-N delegation met MQM-P leaders to empower democracy in the country.
Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui welcomed the visit of PML-N delegation led by Abbasi and said that Pakistan could get to its destination only through democracy.
Siddiqui added that PML-N had given powers to the provinces during its tenure and it is now very important to shift powers to the nationals.
Abbasi said both parties held discussions over the dangers to the democracy in the country and made concensus on different matters. All stakeholders should define a path to get out of crisis, he added.
He urged for the need for a concensus among all political parties of the country to resolve national issues. The PML-N vice president said Prime Minister Imran Khan should complete his five-year tenure.
He said that political parties should finalise rules of business before a new setup or elections.
While answering a question, Abbasi rejected that PML-N is a part of a political deal. He claimed that MQM-P has also expressed concerns over the governance. PML-N wants to establish a strong local government system across the country which is the pillar of a strong democracy, Abbasi added.
Sources told media that PML-N delegation conveyed the ‘goodwill message of Nawaz Sharif’ to the MQM-P leadership and sought for joint political efforts after forgetting previous disputes and issues.
The visiting delegation said MQM-P is a big political party of Sindh and has a powerful vote bank in Karachi. They sought MQM-P’s support for PML-N to serve the citizens of Sindh including Karachi.
During the meeting, MQM-P said the political party will consult the recommendations tabled by PML-N. They added that MQM-P gets nothing but disappointment despite many promises by the present government.
Earlier, a delegation of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) on the advice of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Karachi on a two-day visit.
As per details, the PML-N delegation comprising senior leaders including Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal, Marriyum Aurangzeb and others will meet various political leadership of Sindh during the two-day visit. A delegation of PML-N led by its senior vice president Shahid Khaqan Abbasi met MQM-P leadership today.
Sources said Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and members of MQM-P’s Rabita Committee represented their political party during the upcoming meeting. Sources added that both political parties held discussions over the current political situation and local bodies elections.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday said that the country they had today was far from Quaid’s vision for a democratic state.
The former prime minister was speaking to the media after his visit to Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum in Karachi alongside Ahsan Iqbal and other senior party leaders.
“There was no inflation during PML-N’s tenure,” Abbasi said. “Karachi was the city of lights in 2018 and there was peace in the metropolis.”
Speaking about the record inflation in the country, the former prime minister said, “Today the public is suffering because of record inflation. “Imran Khan is responsible for the price hike in the country. We have never seen inflation like this in the country. The situation is not normal.”
The former prime minister added that PML-N would win the next elections.
“We are not power hungry, we just want to restore order in the country. The country cannot progress in this current environment. In 2018 we had said election was controversial and that Pakistan was facing dangers from inside,” he said.
“There is no democracy in Quaid’s Pakistan but dictatorship.”“We do not power, we just want the country to progress. The world is going somewhere else and Pakistan somewhere else. This is everyone’s country and we want it to go forward and progress,” he added.
When asked if a great alliance was being formed to remove the government, Abbasi said, there was no need for one. “We came to Karachi to meet everyone. Our doors are open for everyone.”
Abbasi along with Iqbal, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Musadik Malik arrived in Karachi on Thursday for a two-day visit to meet leaders of various political parties.Speaking to the reporters after arriving at the airport, Iqbal said they were going to pay respect at Quaid-a-Azam’s mausoleum after being granted bail.
“This is the same city which had been a hub of targeted killings and extortion,” Iqbal said. “PML-N brought peace to the city.”
The former interior minister continued, “During our tenure more than 200 factories that had been closed, re-opened.”
He added that they have come to Karachi with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s message. “This city’s mandate was stolen in 2018. This will be PML-N’s fortress,” Iqbal said.
The PML-N leaders, during the visit of the metropolis, will meet with leaders of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Pak Sarzameen Party, Jamaat-e-Islami and the Dr Farooq Sattar-led faction of MQM to discuss the political situation of the country and Karachi ahead of the local body elections in the city.
Party insiders sources had told The News that the Karachi visit by top party leaders was part of PML-N’s strategy to tour the country and meet political and religious parties to understand the ground situation, evolve a consensus among smaller political parties before initiating an anti-government drive.
PML-N leaders will also discuss opportunities for ‘alliance and understandings’ in upcoming local government polls, sources added.
Party sources further said the central leaders will also address the party workers at Muslim League House, where will also try to remove differences among the provincial president Shah Muhammad Shah and Karachi President Salman Khan who are running two parallel organisational structures of the party in Karachi.
The PML-N leaders will attend a party’s luncheon meeting at the residence of the party’s provincial president Shah.
