VEN when compared to the recent string of errors and misjudgements by the MQM, the decision to quit parliament and the Sindh assembly stands out as a particularly unwise move. The frustration and anger of the MQM leadership is apparent.

There may in fact be some truth to the MQM allegations that the police and paramilitary crackdown on the party has led to unlawful actions against party members. Illegal detentions and torture in custody are not unheard of in the country. But if that is really the reason why the MQM has decided to resign from the assemblies it surely does little or nothing to address the MQM`s complaint. The military-run operation against criminal elements in the MQM looks almost certain to continue. Once outside parliament and the Sindh assembly, the MQM will really have no platform from which to press its complaints. If anything, the party will be in an even worse position than it is right now.

Perhaps the MQM should also reflect on why it is unable to garner much public sympathy, especially outside its base. The MQM is a legitimate political party with a genuine voter base, but the party does have a dark side. At various points in the party`s history, its militant wing has virtually eclipsed the political side. Altaf Hussain and senior party representatives have always denied all allegations of violence and extortion, but the denials are not really credible. The denizens of Karachi in particular are all too familiar with how the party has used violence and intimidation to perpetuate its control of the city. Blanket denials did not convince anyone in the past and they are unlikely to now. Consider that at no point has the MQM actually helped or aided the state in its quest to track down and arrest those who have kept entire neighbourhoods in a state of fear for many years, perhaps even decades.

Yet, even with the MQM`s non-cooperation and belligerence, it should not be allowed to needlessly destabilise national politics. The federal government, possibly Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself, have done the right thing in not encouraging the speaker of the National Assembly to act immediately on the sudden move by MQM legislators. Just a week ago, it was the MQM that was trying to use its parliamentary prerogative to have the PTI ousted from parliament.

That is hardly the sign of a party that finds assemblies to be pointless and irrelevant. The sensible approach is the same one that was used to get the MQM to back down on its motion to unseat the PTI: reach out to the senior MQM leadership and Mr Hussain, offer to address their genuine complaints, adjust the operation in Sindh to eliminate abuses where found and let the country put this unnecessary political crisis behind it.