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  "path": "/news/1982355/president-zardari-stresses-unity-political-harmony-in-karachi-meeting-with-naqvi-mqm-ps-khalid-maqbool",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-15T12:22:36.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.dawn.com",
  "tags": [
    "Pakistan",
    "heightened tensions",
    "_heated_",
    "_Gul Plaza incident_",
    "federal territory",
    "Farooq Sattar urged",
    "removed",
    "replaced",
    "coalition government",
    "agreed",
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  "textContent": "President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday met with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui in Karachi, where they discussed the importance of political harmony.\n\nAccording to a statement released by the Presidency, the “importance of national unity, political harmony and continued democracy” was discussed during the meeting.\n\n“The president stressed unity and stronger efforts for peace and rule of law,” said a statement posted on X by the Presidency.\n\n> \n\n“The meeting underscored the need for joint efforts to promote peace, stability, and the rule of law in the country,” the statement read.\n\nThe leaders “exchanged views on the country’s overall internal security situation and matters related to law and order”. They also reviewed the “evolving regional situation and its potential implications for Pakistan”.\n\nThe statement said that the president stressed the importance of strengthening internal security and ensuring public safety.\n\nThe meeting between President Zardari, who leads the PPP, and the MQM-P chief follows heightened tensions between their parties in recent months regarding Karachi’s governance.\n\nMatters have been _heated_ between the PPP and MQM-P — both allies in the federal government — since the _Gul Plaza incident_, with Siddiqui and his party demanding that Karachi be made part of the federal territory.\n\nThe tensions reached the point where MQM-P’s Farooq Sattar urged PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to seek resignations from Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, both of whom are from the PPP.\n\nThe Centre’s friction with MQM-P became even more apparent earlier this week when the latter’s Kamran Tessori was removed as the Sindh governor and replaced by PML-N’s Nehal Hashmi.\n\nAs part of their deal to form a coalition government in the Centre, the PML-N had agreed to appoint PPP leaders as governors of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.\n\nIn return, PPP had agreed to the PML-N’s right to appoint its nominees in Sindh and Balochistan as governors. Therefore, Tessori’s removal indicated a bolstering of the ties between the PPP and the PML-N.\n\nThe MQM-P had complained that it had not been taken on board before the decision to remove Tessori from office, calling it a “grave mistake” by Islamabad and vowing to soon decide its course of action.\n\nTessori had said he knew who was behind the decision but would remain “politically silent in the larger national interest”.",
  "title": "President Zardari stresses ‘unity, political harmony’ in Karachi meeting with Naqvi, MQM-P’s Khalid Maqbool"
}