KARACHI: Amid reports that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is considering removal of Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori from the office to appease the Pakistan Peoples Party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan on Monday reacted strongly and warned that such a decision would force the party to quit the Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government.

The reaction came from MQM-P’s senior leader Dr Farooq Sattar, who said in a statement that the party would have no reason to be part of the federal government if any “unilateral decision” is made regarding the office of the Sindh governor.

“When the PML-N government came into being [after Feb 8 polls], it was decided that Kamran Tessori would remain the governor. There were speculations about his removal. We want to make it clear to the PML-N that if any unilateral decision is made regarding Governor Tessori, the MQM-P would have no reason left to stay with the government [as a coalition partner],” said Dr Sattar.

The statement was released in the wee hours of Monday morning and it appeared that many in the MQM-P were not aware of it until TV channels flashed it in their headlines.

Muttahida to leave coalition govt if Sindh governor is removed, says Sattar; PPP believes something is cooking

MQM-P sources said that Dr Sattar’s statement didn’t sit well with the party leadership that reportedly asked him to explain the reasons behind issuing such a “strong statement” on his own and without following proper party channels.

Dr Sattar was not available for comments and no senior MQM-P leader was willing to come on record to talk about the matter.

‘**No plan to minus MQM-P’**

While it is not clear whether the PML-N was seriously considering the removal of Mr Tessori, sources in the ruling party in the Centre believed that any such step, if taken, would not “minus” the MQM-P from the process of consultation for the new names for the governor’s office.

They said it was quite possible that the next governor would also belong to the MQM-P or one whose name it approved.

They claimed that the recent speculations about the possible removal of Mr Tessori were linked to the “intraparty issues” of the MQM-P as one group wanted him to stay and the other sought his removal.

A senior PML-N leader told Dawn that there was no one in his party’s Sindh chapter who could be made governor. “So ultimately, if it is decided to remove Mr Tessori, the top leadership would go for any notable candidate that could be any businessman, retired bureaucrat, judge or from armed forces. In either case, the MQM-P would be part of the consultation. And there should be no surprise if Mr Tessori is replaced with some other nominee of the MQM-P.”

Last week, when PM Shehbaz visited the city, the grapevine was rife with speculation that a change was afoot in the Governor House, reminding the similar situation that had developed a few months ago against Mr Tessori but he, against all odds, managed to survive and stay.

It was the PPP which had in April publicly demanded Mr Tessori’s removal from the office. The ruling party in Sindh had accused the governor of “creating a political divide and further widening the gap between urban and rural areas of Sindh” and asked the PML-N-led government in the Centre to remove him from the post.

‘Something is happening’

The PPP still sticks to its demand and believes that the recent development suggests “something is happening”.

“We still believe that he [Tessori] has failed to bring an end to political and urban-rural divide,” Senator Waqar Mehdi, the PPP-Sindh’s general secretary, told Dawn.

“We haven’t been consulted yet,” said Senator Mehdi about any contact from the PML-N for the appointment of the new Sindh governor after so much speculation about the fate of Mr Tessori.

“But we have heard that they [PML-N government in the Centre] have started thinking about it. We have also been informed that our party leadership would also be taken into confidence before reaching any final decision is made in this regard,” he added.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2024