MQM-P ratifies accord with opposition to oust PM

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan's (MQM-P) coordination committee has announced that it has cut a deal with the opposition to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan from his office.

MQM-P leader Nasreen Jalil confirmed the development while speaking to the media outside the party's markaz in Karachi's Bahadurabad.

"Details of the agreement will be revealed in a press conference" she said.

Read more: Farogh Nasim announces to resigns as Law Minister

In that press conference, the party is expected to formally make public its split with the government and announce voting in favour of the no-trust resolution against PM Imran.

Meanwhile, MQM-P leaders Farogh Naseem and Aminul Haque resigned earlier today as ministers for law and justice, and information technology and telecom, respectively.

As per media reports, Naseem wrote in his resignation letter that he was resigning on directions from MQM-P's convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.

Haque wrote that while he was a part of the government in his capacity as a minister, he was "bound by my party's decisions as a responsible worker".

"In light of my party MQM-P's decisions, I resign as federal minister for information technology and telecommunication. I request you (the prime minister) to accept this."

He added that he was "proud of fulfilling my duties with honesty".

He iterated the same in a video message shared shortly afterwards.

"MQM-P called a meeting of its coordination committee, chaired by [MQM-P convener] Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, that ratified the agreement with the [opposition] and the resignation of the ministers. A new phase will begin and we will make efforts to struggle for urban Sindh's progress," Haque said in another video message.

The party held a late night meeting with opposition leaders on Tuesday which created quite a stir in the capital and had many anxiously checking their TVs for updates.

Initially, an opposition delegation consisting of Khawaja Asif, Sherry Rehman, Naveed Qamar, Ayaz Sadiq, Akhtar Mengal, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and others reached Parliament Lodges a little before midnight.

They held talks with MQM convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and other leaders, which continued well into the early hours of Wednesday.

Later, the main cohort of opposition leaders — Asif Ali Zardari and his son Bilawal, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Shehbaz Sharif — also reached the venue around 2:00am in a bid to persuade the government ally to switch sides.

While the combined opposition tried with all its might to prevail upon the party to announce a decision there and then, the MQM-P avoided making a definitive statement at such a late hour and announced that it would make its decision public the next day.