Resignations saga: Govt ready to offer MQM ‘a few concessions’

Maulana Fazl telephones Farooq Sattar, asks him to reconsider decision of calling off talks

ISLAMABAD: The government has agreed to give the Muttahida Qaumi Movement ‘a few concessions’ and requested Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who has been mediating between the two sides, to bring the MQM back to the negotiating table, The Express Tribune has learnt from reliable sources.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar contacted Fazl on Saturday and asked him to convey the government’s show of flexibility towards the MQM. Subsequently, Fazl called up MQM parliamentary leader Dr Farooq Sattar, and requested him to review the decision of calling off talks.

According to sources, Sattar assured him the MQM Coordination Committee would discuss the matter and send a delegation to Islamabad for talks with the government. The development came a day after the MQM Coordination Committee asked the government to accept the resignations of its lawmakers while hitting out at Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his comments during the recent Karachi trip.

Dr Sattar confirmed to the media that Fazl telephoned him but he told the JUI-F chief that his party was no longer interested in negotiations. He did not share details of his conversation with Fazl but sources say the MQM has agreed to send its delegation to Islamabad for talks.

MQM leaders had said at a joint news conference with Fazl at Nine Zero that the party would send a delegation to Islamabad on Monday. Now sources say the MQM will take a few more days to review its decision of calling off talks. The MQM Coordination Committee will meet soon both in Karachi and London where it is likely to endorse the decision to reengage with the government, according to sources.

JUI-F spokesman Jan Achakzai confirmed Fazl’s contact with the MQM, saying that the two sides would be talking to each other soon. He hoped the MQM would soon send its delegation to Islamabad for negotiations.

Sources say that Premier Nawaz has decided to confer with the stakeholders and then offer a few concessions to the MQM in order to bring the party’s lawmakers back to the assemblies. Earlier almost all major demands of the MQM were rejected by the government as all stakeholders were not amenable to these demands.

In a late-night development, Maulana Fazl telephoned MQM’s London-based chief Altaf Hussain and requested him to resume negotiations with the government. Maulana Fazl assured that as the mediator he assured that not only would the government listen to the grievances of the MQM but would also try to address them, according to a press release issued by the MQM. Following the telephone call, the party has started consultations to decide whether or not to resume talks with the government.

Earlier, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and PPP Khurshid Shah also contacted Sattar and urged him to reconsider his party’s decision to call off talks with the government. According to a press release, Sattar expressed concerns over the premier’s attitude towards the MQM’s issues. Dar told Sattar that the government was ready to resolve legitimate demands of the MQM.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2015.