Estranged allies: Little headway as PM meets MQM team

Both sides remain tight-lipped on whether differences had been removed.

ISLAMABAD:

A meeting between Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and a delegation of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Sunday appeared to have made little headway easing tensions for the beleaguered government, but and a breakthrough between the two coalition partners remained elusive.

The meeting, which seemed to be an exercise in damage control, was orchestrated after a week of maneuvering on the part of the top Pakistan Peoples Party leadership.

Both sides emerged from the meeting trying to give an impression that talks had been held in a ‘cordial’ atmosphere, but remained tight-lipped whether differences had been removed. The only sign of headway was a ‘gagging’ plea made by Prime Minister Gilani to Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza, whose statement earlier this month enraged the MQM.

Mirza suggested in a speech to traders that most of the suspects arrested in connection with targeted killings belonged to MQM.

He repeated his assertion on Saturday and asked the MQM to decide about its political future.

Prime Minister Gilani called upon Zulfiqar  Mirza to refrain from issuing any public statement regarding coalition partners, a statement issued by the premier’s media office said.

The prime minister is said to have told the Sindh minister that the meeting with the MQM delegation was held in a “very friendly and cordial atmosphere which would help in improving the political environment in the province”.

An MQM delegation is scheduled to meet President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday.

Notwithstanding optimism expressed by Gilani, there were some indications suggesting that the MQM would still be on the warpath with the government.

MQM chief Altaf Hussain telephoned a couple of leaders of minor parties to discuss with them the domestic political situation.

Former ministers Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Ejazul Haq, both heading their own factions of Pakistan Muslim League (PML), were the ones who received separate calls from Altaf Hussain from London.

A number of similar contacts had been made by the MQM chief over the past couple of days.

Altaf talked with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI), which quit the ruling coalition a few days ago.

MQM’s Babar Ghauri met Maulana Fazl on Sunday in what appeared to be an attempt to keep up the pressure on government.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20th, 2010.