HYDERABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui has said that MQM-P still supported provincial autonomy which was enshrined through the 18th constitutional amendment.

Addressing a public gathering at Liaquat Colony ground here Friday, Siddiqui said that his party had demanded before enactment of that amendment that the devolution of powers from the provinces to the local bodies should precede the devolution from the center to the provinces.

“But through the 18th amendment accumulation of powers (by the provinces) was done in the name of devolution,” he contended, adding that his party which had supported the amendment in the parliament was deceived by the then government.

He said his party entered into the coalition on specific conditions which included financial support and policies for development of the urban Sindh areas including Karachi and Hyderabad.

Siddiqui blamed Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Sindh Government for seizing even those powers which the former local government system had introduced during former President Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf’s regime.

The MQM-P’s convener demanded of the PTI’s federal government to bring another constitutional amendment which would hand over 20 percent of the provincial government controlled departments to the local bodies.

He said although the MQM-P’s strength had reduced from 24 in the National Assembly after July, 2018, general elections to just 7 seats of the MNAs, yet the party was a pivotal partner of the PTI led government.

Siddiqui assured his party’s supporters that a new era of MQM-P was on the horizon.

The party’s Deputy Convener Kunwar Navid Jamil congratulated the supporters that the party’s good time had started.

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