PM Imran speaks with Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui as deadlock persists between MQM-P and PTI

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan contacted Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui on Monday, assuring the disgruntled coalition partner that his valid demands would be fulfilled.

Sources told Geo News that PM Imran Khan approached the MQM-P leader and has summoned him to Islamabad. During the conversation, Siddiqui put forth his reservations in front of the premier, who assured the former that the party's issues would be addressed.

PM Imran spoke on the matter during the media strategy committee session earlier in the day, where he said that the demands of the MQM-P related to the release of funds, development works, and establishment of educational institutions would be met soon. 

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen also spoke with Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.

Deadlock between MQM-P and PTI

A delegation of the PTI arrived earlier in the day at the MQM-P headquarters in an attempt to address the grievances of the disgruntled ally, which had quit the federal cabinet a day earlier citing "unfulfilled promises".

Also read: MQM-P's Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui says he is quitting federal cabinet over 'unfulfilled promises'

On Sunday, the MQM-P gave the PTI federal government a jolt as Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui announced his decision to leave the federal cabinet over “unfulfilled promises”.

However, the MQM-P’s key leaders told The News that the party’s recent move was a part of pressurising the federal government to give it another ministry because, the party believes, Farogh Naseem, Minister for Law and Justice, has been solely working on behalf of the federal government.

Following the bombshell announcement, the prime minister PTI’s Karachi leaders to meet the MQM-P leaders and address their grievances.

Related: Siddiqui expresses displeasure over being given ministry of information technology

The PTI delegation, headed by Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar and comprising Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Khurram Sher Zaman and Firdous Shamim Naqvi, reached the MQM office in Bahaduarabad earlier in the day.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Umar said the PTI wished the MQM-P would remain a part of the federal cabinet. "Our wish is that Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui remains in the cabinet," Umar said.

"PM will visit Karachi in the first week of February and update the MQM-P on the developments related to Karachi," he added, downplaying rumours that the governor of the province would be changed.

Speaking to reporters alongside Umar, Siddiqui said he had not taken back his resignation. "Our meeting was already scheduled, it was not negotiations," he said.