Observer Report
Karachi
In a major but expected development, the Sindh cabinet has rejected the federal cabinet’s decision to approve the census results, saying it does not have the powers to do so.
About the future course of action, the provincial cabinet noted that the matter pertained to the Council of Common Interests which would be moved for the purpose.
The move came a day after the PPP said the federal government had bypassed the agreement signed by the parliamentary leaders in the Senate for correcting the highly-controversial Census 2017 results through a recount of the population in five percent randomly-selected population blocks.
Meanwhile, Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said on Thursday that the federal government accepted the controversial 2017 census results despite MQM’s reservations.
Speaking during a press conference in Islamabad, Siddiqui said in the census, the population of Sindh’s major cities was shown to be 25% less than the actual count.
“Our doubts related to the inaccuracy of the 2017 census have proven to be true now,” he said. “We had gone to courts to register our concerns even before the census had begun.”
He also said that Prime Minister Imran Khan did not fulfil any of his promises with the MQM. “Why are we even part of the government, to begin with? Will people have to demand all their rights by taking to the streets?” he questioned.
“We had formed a coalition with the government on the basis of the census,” Siddiqui said. “Despite MQM’s reservations against the results of the census, the federal government went ahead and approved it.”
He said that the people of Sindh’s urban centres are upset after the government’s decision to accept the inaccurate census results, adding that he fears the move might push people to disassociate themselves from the politics of this country.
