ISLAMABAD, July 28: President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad have withheld the resignations tendered by federal and provincial ministers belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and asked them to continue till the issues raised by them are resolved.
Talking to Dawn on Friday, Minister of State for Information Tariq Azeem Khan said the president had directed the governor not to accept the resignations ‘for the time being’.
The minister was optimistic that the matter would be resolved in the next 24 hours.
Mr Azeem dismissed an impression that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had flown to Karachi specifically to defuse the situation, saying the premier was scheduled to inaugurate the Karachi expo on Saturday, though he would use his presence there to meet government officials to try to resolve the crisis.
The minister said misunderstandings occurred in coalition governments and they were removed in a spirit of understanding and accommodation. He hoped this issue would also be resolved.
Meanwhile, ruling PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has established contacts with the party’s Sindh leadership and discussed with them a ‘possible solution’ of the issue.
Earlier, Mr Shamim Siddiqui of the MQM, after handing over resignations of three federal ministers and a minister of state to the deputy military secretary to the president, announced that their decision was irreversible.
Talking to reporters, Mr Siddiqui said the decision had been taken by the party’s top leadership after consultations.
He said President Musharraf had not played his role to address the grievances his party had presented before him a couple of months back. He blamed some elements in the establishment, intelligence agencies and the president’s house who did not want solution of the problems.
Analysts, however, predict that the MQM will withdraw the resignations upon the assurance by ‘the competent authority’ that its grievances will be redressed.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Aziz, who had consultations with his party leaders here on Thursday, left for Karachi on Friday to review the situation.
Talking to Dawn, an MQM legislator hoped that the issues with Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim could be resolved amicably. He said the chief minister had to change his ‘aggressive attitude’ towards the problems the MQM was facing due to emerging public complaints.
The legislator listed removal of encroachments in Karachi, a prompt disposal of summaries by the chief minister and removal of hurdles in giving jobs to the deserving people as some of the MQM’s grievances.
