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| 30 June 2004 | Wednesday | 11 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425 |
MQM asked to reconsider decision: Sattar
ISLAMABAD, June 29: Parliamentary leader of the MQM Dr Farooq Sattar has said Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Shaukat Aziz have asked the party to reconsider its decision of setting a three-month deadline for the government to press for its certain demands.
Talking to reporters at cafeteria of the Parliament House after the election of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as the prime minister here on Tuesday, the MQM leader said they had sent this request of the Pakistan Muslim League to the party's coordination committee which would make the final decision.
About a week ago, the MQM set a three-month deadline for the government demanding action against the religious parties active in Sindh and more powers for its ministers at the Centre as well as the province.
The MQM threatened to withdraw the support to the PML government if its demands were not met within the time-frame. Flanked by newly-elected MNA Abdul Waseem and Shamim Siddiqui, Dr Sattar said the change of the prime minister through democratic means proved that the present assemblies would complete its tenure of five years.
He said in the past, assemblies were dissolved as decisions were not taken by political parties or the house. The MQM MNA was of the view that only strong political parties could strengthen democracy in the country.
"It is like a relay race when one player has to hand over the roll to another player," Dr Sattar said when asked how many more prime ministers would be changed in the next few years.
He expressed the hope that the MQM would get its agreed share in the federal cabinet. He said the political arrangement, reached between the coalition partners at the time of the government formation in 2002, was still intact. "We want to have four ministers in the cabinet," he added.
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