Mustafa Kamal says Khalid Maqbool opposed Wasim Akhtar as governor

MQM-Pakistan leader and Federal Minister Mustafa Kamal on Sunday alleged that party chairman Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui prevented Wasim Akhtar from becoming the governor of Sindh, while also announcing a protest movement over the rights of urban Sindh.

Addressing a general workers' meeting, Kamal said MQM-Pakistan had decided to seek a complete change to the country's governance model.

"We have decided to completely change the existing governance model and ensure powers and resources are constitutionally transferred to the doorsteps of the people of Pakistan because the country's survival depends on it," he said.

Kamal said MQM believed in the supremacy of the Constitution and the law and urged party workers to continue their struggle within the constitutional and legal framework.

He criticised the Sindh government, claiming it had received Rs22 trillion from the federal government over the past 18 years but had failed to provide basic services to Karachi, Hyderabad and other parts of the province.

He announced that MQM-Pakistan would launch a protest movement from July 26 to seek the rights of urban Sindh.

Referring to Wasim Akhtar, Kamal alleged that Akhtar's differences were with Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui rather than himself.

Kamal further claimed Siddiqui had told him that when Wasim Akhtar sought the Sindh governorship, Siddiqui accompanied him to meet the prime minister and submitted a letter nominating Akhtar for the post.

"When the meeting ended, Khalid Bhai stepped back and told the prime minister privately not to act on the letter I had submitted," Kamal alleged.