MQM approaches Nawaz; offers unconditional help
KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has endorsed the decision of the party’s coordination committee, offering unconditional support to Nawaz Sharif in election for the office of prime minister.
Addressing a joint meeting of the coordination committee of Pakistan and London via telephone, Altaf prayed that the new government may succeed in coping with the challenges facing the country. Meanwhile, a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) delegation called on prime minister-designate and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif at the Parliament House on Monday and exchanged views on the political situation. MQM leaders Dr Farooq Sattar and Senator Babar Khan Ghauri held a quiet meeting with Nawaz Sharif at the chambers of Senator Ishaq Dar, at the office of leader of the opposition in Senate. This was the first high-level contact between the two parties since 1992. PML-N leaders Senator Dar and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan were also present on the occasion. A source told APP that the two sides discussed the possibility of cooperation between their respective parties in Centre as well as in Sindh.
“The MQM delegation conveyed to Mian Nawaz Sharif the congratulatory message from Quaid-e-Tehreek Altaf Hussain on the emphatic win of the PML-N in recent elections. They also said that the MQM wanted to cooperate with the PML-N in Centre and Sindh province. Mian Nawaz Sharif expressed gratitude to the MQM leadership and said soon formal talks would be held with the MQM in this regard,” the source added. However, when asked, Dr Farooq Sattar said that they had met with Nawaz Sharif to convey felicitations from his party to him. “This meeting was not planned and rather it happened by chance,” he asserted without mentioning that they had sought special time from the PML-N chief. staff report/agencies