The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has assured the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan MQM-P of accepting its “demands” in return for support in the opposition’s no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The development came after a delegation of the MQM-P, which is an ally of the ruling PTI, met the PPP leadership including its chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and former president Asif Ali Zardari at a luncheon hosted by the latter in Islamabad on Thursday.
The MQM-P delegation included convenor Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Aamir Khan, Aminul Haq, Wasim Akhtar and Javed Hanif.
Both the parties discussed the prevailing political situation in the country, a statement issued by the PPP said.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and other PPP ministers and office-bearers including Nasir Hussain Shah, Saeed Ghani, Murtaza Wahab and Rukhsana Bangash were also present at the occasion.
The meeting took place in a “very pleasant” atmosphere and both the parties agreed to form a joint committee for the implementation of the MQM-P’s demands, the insiders said.
“Members of both the parties will sit down and work out a roadmap for progress and action on the MQM-P's points,” they added.
On the other hand, the sources also said that the MQM-P has not given any assurance to the PPP so far regarding the support in the no-trust move and will take its final decision after consultation.
In a statement, MQM-P senior leader Aamir Khan said that the consultation was underway and no decision has been taken thus far regarding parting ways with the PTI-led coalition government.
He said all decisions will be taken keeping in view the interests of Karachi and its people and added that they would announce their decision before voting on no-confidence motion.
Earlier this month, both the parties agreed to form a long-term working relationship in the “wider interest of the nation” in a meeting held to discuss the political situation arising out of the no-trust motion tabled against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
In a statement, the PPP said that the leadership of the two parties discussed the prevailing political situation in the country and that both the sides “agreed on a long-term working relationship in the wider interest of the nation”. “The PPP also agreed with all the points of the MQM-P.”
The MQM-P sources, while sharing details of the meeting, said that the PPP offered governorship of Sindh to the MQM-P among other things. However, they added that consensus on having a working relationship was a positive step but the PPP needed to practically prove a few things before the voting on the no-trust motion.
