No-trust vote: Govt in last-ditch efforts to woo allies

FM Qureshi gets in touch with MQM-P and PML-Q leaders

ISLAMABAD:

The government has stepped up its efforts to win over its allies with the looming a against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday reached out to both the key allies of the ruling PTI— the MQM-P and PML-Q.

He led a delegation of the party’s senior leaders, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar and Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, to meet MQM-P leaders in Islamabad.

During the meeting, Qureshi conveyed an important message of Prime Minister Imran Khan to the MQM-P leadership.

The MQM-P leaders present at the meeting included federal ministers Farogh Naseem and Aminul Haque.

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Speaking to the media after the meeting, Qureshi said they had taken a goodwill message to the MQM-P.

“The meeting was held in a good environment. It was a positive and fruitful meeting,” he added.

The foreign minister said the MQM-P leaders had clearly told them that they have not made any commitment with the PPP. “The MQM-P leaders have told us that the PPP is giving false statements.”

The foreign minister also spoke with PML-Q leader, Punjab Assembly Speaker Parvez Elahi, on the phone and scheduled a meeting with him and his cousin, party chief Chaudhry Shujaat Husain, on Saturday (today) in Lahore at their residence.

Qureshi, accompanied by Khattak, would convey a message from PM Imran to the Chaudhry brothers of Gujarat during the meeting.

Also read: No-trust vote: Speaker adjourns crucial NA session till Mar 28

However, sources said the MQM-P, after striking deal with the PPP, was also entering the final phase of its agreement with the PML-N.

They added that a PML-N delegation met with MQM-P leaders at the Parliament Lodges on late Thursday night.

The sources said the PML-N had accepted the demands of the MQM-P, including giving legal protection to local governments and the census.

Important aspects of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) and K-IV water projects were also agreed upon.

According to the sources, the pact between the two parties would be brought in the form of a draft.

MQM-P sources said ministries and governorship were not on the party’s agenda.

Separately, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari met with the lawmakers of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) at the Parliament Lodges.

The BAP lawmakers included Nawabzada Khalid Khan Magsi, Mir Ehsanullah Reki, Sardar Israr Tareen, Zubaida Jalal and Rubina Irfan.

The PPP chairman was accompanied by his party lawmaker Amer Ali Khan Magsi.

Bilawal discussed the political situation in the country with the BAP lawmakers.