The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) boycotted the proceedings of the Sindh Assembly on Saturday to protest the postponement of elections on two general seats of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir assembly in the province. Before leaving the House, MQM Deputy Parliamentary Leader Faisal Sabzwari said that Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah had expressed satisfaction over the law and order situation in Karachi. However, Sabzwari added, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) postponed the elections following a report of the provincial inspector general of police (IGP). The MQM leader said that during the recent visit of Interior Minister Rehman Malik, the Pakistan People’s Party’s leaders had expressed their desire that the MQM be asked to withdraw one of its candidates. “This was not a democratic act,” he added.
He said that the ECP is not under anyone’s control, and that the MQM condemns the postponement of the elections. Later, talking to the media, he said that his party does not know on whose directives the IGP has submitted the report. He said that the MQM had made all preparations for contesting the elections, and that the party could have won both seats easily. The MQM would continue its boycott of the Assembly, he added. Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro prorogued the House for an indefinite period as the Assembly has already passed the provincial budget for 2011-12.