MQM-PSP merger was unusual, differences will ease over time: Khalid Maqbool

• It is natural for workers to like or dislike Tessori, says Siddiqui.
• Minister says there's only one MQM, which is MQM-Pakistan.
• He says he was not informed about Kamal's cabinet inclusion.

Given the hostility between the parties, the merger of the Pak Sarzameen Party with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) was not an easy decision, MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said.

During an interview with Geo News on Sunday, the federal minister said that there was much hostility and bitterness between the two groups when they merged, which would subside with time.

Siddiqui, whose party is part of the coalition set up in the centre, said it was natural that some people in the MQM-P liked the governor and others did not as the party workers have their individual perspectives on collective decisions.

He, however, maintained that until he was supervising the affairs, no one would feel the urge to leave the party.

Regarding the induction of Mustafa Kamal, the former chairman of PSP, into the federal cabinet, Dr Siddiqui said he had not been informed in advance about the decision.

He added that he had not proposed his name as a federal minister when the cabinet was formed and submitted some other names, but among the MQM-P parliamentarians, his name was finalised as the federal minister.

He said he had earlier resigned two times from the ministerial position. The MQM-P's top leader added that he wanted to focus on strengthening the party.

The MQM-P chief said they made an extraordinary decision to part with the party’s founder after August 23, 2016, but the powers that be did not facilitate them.

He said the MQM-P’s offices were closed and a crackdown was initiated on the party. He clarified that the Rabita Committee of the MQM-P had not been dissolved.

Siddiqui said it was currently suspended due to investigations into a video leak incident. He maintained that the Rabita Committee could not be dissolved without completing legal formalities.

The MQM-P was the biggest ally of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in the federal cabinet with 22 National Assembly seats and its representation in the cabinet should have been greater, Siddiqui said, noting that the party also did not want the ministries, rather it was offered.

He said now Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab could not say that he lacked powers because the Sindh chief minister belonged to his own party, the Pakistan Peoples Party. Dr Siddiqui also denied the existence of MQM-London saying there was just a single MQM, which was MQM-Pakistan.