Pakistan's MQM quits governing coalition

Pakistan's Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said on Monday it was quitting the ruling coalition, raising fears of growing violence in Karachi, the country's commercial capital and the party's political base. 

Senior party official Farooq Sattar said the MQM withdrew because of differences with the government over elections in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. Although the move was a blow to the government, it was not expected to collapse as it enjoys a comfortable majority in parliament. 

"After looking at the undemocratic and dictatorial behaviour of the government, we have come to the conclusion that now it has become impossible for the MQM to go with this government," Sattar told a news conference. 

The MQM said in a statement the long-standing governor of Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, would also stand down. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan is a member of the MQM. 

The MQM was a junior partner of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of President Asif Ali Zardari in both the Sindh provincial government and the federal government.    

The MQM largely draws its support from the descendents of Urdu-speaking migrants from India who dominate Karachi and other urban centres of southern Sindh province. 

The city was the scene of intense ethnic violence in the 1990s between Urdu migrants and Sindhis, who are the main supporters of the ruling PPP. 

The ethnic picture has become more volatile since then with a large influx of ethnic Pashtuns from areas bordering Afghanistan, but some political analysts said tension has been to some degree kept in check by the MQM's involvement in government. 

The MQM quit the federal government in January to protest against a rise in petrol prices but later rejoined the coalition after the government scrapped the increase.  

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