News
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
PML-Q mediates between PPP and MQM
* Shujaat takes job to broker patch-up between two parties on request of government
* PML-Q chief meets prime minister, phones MQM chief
By Tanveer Ahmed
ISLAMABAD: Immediately after the departure of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) from the government, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), while taking the lead, started intense efforts to broker a patch-up between the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and its main coalition partner.
The simmering relations between the PPP and MQM over the postponement of two seats of Azad Jammu and Kashmir in Karachi for Kashmiri refugees exploded Monday when the latter left the PPP in Centre and Sindh governments.
The MQM’s announcement to pull out of the governments jolted the entire political landscape in the country with the fears of political instability mounting after this latest political development. It was the PML-Q which took the task to mediate between the PPP and its estranged ally, the MQM.
In an effort to mend the ties, PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain launched a quick move soon after the MQM’s announcement to abandon the PPP. Shujaat rushed to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to discuss the new political development in the country, which has been construed a threatening development for the political stability.
The meeting between Shujaat and Gilani mostly focussed on the MQM’s issue.
Immediately after the talks with the prime minister, Chaudhry Shujaat telephoned the London-based MQM chief, Altaf Hussain, to discuss the new emerging political situation.
According to sources, Shujaat has taken the job to mediate between the two parties on the request of the government, which was left with no option but to use the trump card of the PML-Q chief to convince the MQM to review its decision.
The strained relations between the two parties have come to such severity that the government found it hard to initiate the mediation process with the MQM on its own and decided to bring in the PML-Q to act a troubleshooter in the new political situation.
In the past, it was always Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik who acted to pour water over the burning relations between the MQM and PPP, which saw many ups and downs in past three years.
Chaudhry Shujaat reportedly sought time when he talked to MQM leader Altaf Hussain, who expressed his annoyance over the actions of the PPP government by calling them as undemocratic. Sources in the PML-Q said that the government decided to take the help from Chaudhry Shujaat because of his cordial and friendly ties with the MQM.
Both the PML-Q and MQM were coalitions partners in the present democratic set up as well as remained allies in the Mushrraf-led political dispensation when the PML-Q led the central government. The MQM left the PPP government in January this year when it parted ways with it over the hike in petroleum products. However, with the withdrawal of the price hike the relations between the two came to normalcy.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk