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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Pakistan
Index
The Muhajir Qaumi Mahaz (MQM), a party formed to
represent
the interests of the muhajir community in Pakistan,
had a
meteoric rise in the political life of the country.
Founded by
Altaf Hussain in 1984, the MQM won thirteen (out of 207)
seats in
the National Assembly in the 1988 elections, making it the
third
largest party in the assembly after the PPP and the IJI.
MQM
support of the PPP made it possible for Benazir to form a
government and become prime minister. Shortly after the
election,
however, the coalition between the PPP and the MQM broke
down,
and the two parties' subsequently troubled relations
contributed
greatly to the instability of Benazir's first government.
In the
1990 general elections, the MQM won fifteen seats in the
National
Assembly, remaining the third largest party. The MQM
boycotted
the 1993 National Assembly elections but won twenty-seven
seats
in the provincial assembly of Sindh.
The MQM had its origin in the All-Pakistan Muhajir
Students
Organization at Karachi University. At a large public
meeting in
Karachi in 1986, the MQM expressed the political and
economic
demands of the muhajir community. The MQM's
political
strength came primarily from the urban areas of Sindh, and
its
main emphasis was on securing better job opportunities for
muhajirs. The MQM played an active role in the
ethnic
riots in Karachi in the winter of 1986-87. These
disturbances
brought prominence and notoriety to the MQM and its
leader, Altaf
Hussain. It was after these riots that the MQM leadership
converted the movement into a political party. The MQM's
full
political weight was first felt in the 1988 elections.
Data as of April 1994
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