18th amendment detrimental to Sindh's urban areas: Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui

KARACHI: Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Convener Dr Kahlid Maqbool Siddiqui on Saturday said that the party was disgruntled over unkept promises but is now at ease as some breakthrough has been achieved, ARY News reported.

Speaking to media after the meeting between the PTI-MQM-P delegations concluded, Siddiqui said his party had highlighted the problems facing Sindh’s urban areas and Karachi and how the eighteenth amendment had wreaked havoc, “something that promised devolution of power has been used as a tool for accumulation of power.”

He also said that Sindh’s urban areas “are in the Intensive Care Unit” and those areas of the country should be taken care of by the government whose shopkeepers, traders and industrialists were “fulfilling their responsibilities” and generating revenue.

“The PTI knew about these problems before we joined hands to form the federal government,” he said, saying that the MQM-P had given the ruling party “unconditional support” during its time of need.

The MQM-P convener said talks held with the PTI delegation were “encouraging” and the demands put forward by his party were for the welfare of the people of Karachi and Sindh. He said these demands were not meant to benefit any individual or political party but the people in general.

“Sindh’s urban areas are in need of immediate relief,” he said.

Leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui tendered his resignation from the post of Federal Minister for Information Technology yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference earlier, he had said that being a member of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cabinet served no useful purpose as there has been no progress towards the removal of their reservations concerning the issues confronting the port city.