October 04, 2008	Saturday	Shawwal 04, 1429

KARACHI, Oct 3: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement is set to induct some new faces into its supreme body, the coordination committee, besides considering changing portfolios of some of the provincial ministers in the Sindh coalition government, Dawn has learnt.

Well-placed sources told Dawn that about a month ago, the MQM chief, Altaf Hussain, had removed some members of the coordination committee, including its Pakistan’s in-charge Anwar Alam, Abdul Haseeb and Senator Babar Ghauri, and announced that he would himself oversee the reorganization process.

The sources said that initially Mr Hussain had disbanded all wings of the party including the coordination committee but reviewed his decision within a few hours and only some of the members of the coordination committee faced the axe.

The sources said that Mr Hussain had sent a senior party member, Anis Ahmed Kaimkhani, to Karachi to monitor the overall functioning of different wings of the party and he would submit a report to Mr Hussain upon his return to London.

However, the reorganization process was delayed due to Ramazan and now, according to the sources, the process would be completed within a fortnight after conducting interviews with certain party members.

The sources disclosed that the party was also considering changing portfolios of certain provincial ministers on the basis of their performance in their respective departments.

A reshuffle is expected between the provincial ministers having portfolios of environment and alternative energy, health, information technology, industries and commerce, auqaf and youth affairs. There is a strong likelihood that the reshuffle might benefit provincial minister Syed Sardar Ahmed, Khalid bin Walayat, Shaikh Muhammad Afzal who are at present without any portfolio.

On the other hand, a senior party leader categorically said that the MQM had not yet received any formal offer from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to join its coalition government at the centre.

“We have supported the PPP right from the Feb 18 general election up to the proposal of President Asif Ali Zardari and there was a lot of effort to get maximum votes from the others parties as well and we will keep on supporting the PPP unconditionally on all justified issues,” said Hyder Abbas Rizvi. “We have not been approached by the PPP on joining the coalition at the centre,” he added.

Mr Rizvi, who is the MQM’s deputy parliamentary leader in the national assembly, confirmed that despite giving votes to Mr Zardari during the presidential election, the party’s 25 MNAs are still sitting on opposition benches.

The sources, however, said that it would be a matter of days when the MQM joined the PPP-led ruling coalition at the centre and it had almost finalised the names of its potential ministers in the federal cabinet.

They said that the names of former adviser to Sindh chief minister on home affairs Waseem Akhtar and Khushbakh Shujaat are among those to whom the party was considering giving the ministerial slots.