The ruling coalition in Pakistan led by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has suffered a major setback as another of its key ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), decided to part ways with the government.
"The reservations of the party have not been addressed and we are forced to make a decision to go our own way," MQM legislator Haider Abbas Rizvi told Samaa TV.
The MQM's decision comes just a week after Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), withdrew from the government after Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani sacked Jamiat's Azam Swati, who was minister for science and technology, from his cabinet.
MQM lawmaker Haider Abbas Rizvi told Samaa TV that in the first phase, two federal ministers Farooq Sattar and Babar Khan Ghori, will offer their resignations to the prime minister.