Govt-MQM talks: No progress as Nawaz reluctant to notify monitoring panel

Premier expresses reservation over MQM demands

ISLAMABAD: Talks between the government and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) over the formation of a committee to monitor the Karachi operation stalled on Friday as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed reluctance to give the party any leverage over the campaign to wipe out criminals from the metropolis.

According to sources, Friday was supposed to be the day when the government negotiators asked the premier for his go-ahead on the proposed ‘Grievances Redressal Committee’ (GRC). MQM lawmakers were to withdraw their resignations from parliament and the Sindh Assembly in return.

Prime Minister Nawaz, however, was reluctant to notify the GRC as MQM wanted it to have legal status parallel to that of the judiciary, sources said. This, the premier believed, would create hindrances for stakeholders involved in the Karachi operation, they added.

Premier Nawaz also expressed reservations over the MQM demand that the GRC be headed by a retired judge and be composed of retired bureaucrats, journalists and rights activists, according to sources. They said he will consult all stakeholders on these two points before forming the committee.

Nawaz is still determined to listen to MQM grievances regarding missing workers and extra-judicial killings, however, they added. Talking to The Express Tribune on Friday, MQM’s Farooq Sattar confirmed there was no progress in negotiations. Sattar was contacted by Maulana Fazlur Rehman earlier in the day to discuss reconciliation with the government.

Sattar told Fazl that the MQM had handed over all their demands to the government and were awaiting notification of the GRC. He said the party lawmakers would take back their resignations once this happened.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2015.