ISLAMABAD / KARACHI, Nov 6: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain took a U-turn on Friday when he assured Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders at a meeting in Abu Dhabi that he had not asked President Asif Ali Zardari to sacrifice his office.

According to sources, the MQM chief took part by phone in the meeting with Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza.

The MQM delegation, headed by Mohammad Anwar, in charge of its London secretariat, included Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad and the Minister for Ports and Shipping, Babar Ghori.

“I have asked President Zardari to sacrifice the powers he has been enjoying under the 17th Amendment, but not his office,” the sources quoted Mr Hussain as saying.

The two sides agreed to shun their differences and decided to meet after every fortnight to resolve issues and cement their coalition.

“The meeting was positive and the two sides agreed to work together for the sake of democracy,” Mr Malik told a TV channel.

The PPP delegation told the MQM team that President Zardari had asked Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to expedite repeal of the amendment.

The MQM was assured that its demand regarding provincial autonomy would also be met and the proposal had been included in a constitutional reforms package prepared by the government.

However, the two parties differed with each other over a timeframe for repealing some controversial clauses of the 17th Amendment.

The PPP delegation assured the MQM leadership that the president was ready to surrender to parliament all his powers, including appointment of the services chiefs, but said a timeframe could not be given.

According to the sources, the MQM side did not raise the issue of local government system or complain about the Sindh government’s attitude. A delegation of MQM’s parliamentarians had informed the president about the problems at a meeting in Islamabad.

The sources said that Friday’s meeting focussed on “saving the political system from a possible derailment” against the backdrop of MQM’s opposition to the National Reconciliation Ordinance and Mr Hussain’s advice to the president to return his controversial powers to parliament.

The MQM chief asked the interior minister to covey his message to the president that he should ‘act fast’ and take all decisions ‘cool-headedly’.

The PPP team said the president had time and again said that he was more than willing to strengthen parliament by returning all powers that rested with him under the 17th Amendment and a special parliamentary committee was working on the 18th amendment.

The sources said there was a difference of opinion between the two sides on a timeframe of the approval of the 18th amendment.

“In contrast to the PPP, the MQM wants the president to return parliament’s powers as soon as possible,” they said.

They said Mr Malik would visit London next week to meet Mr Hussain.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Ghori termed the meeting positive. “We have no differences with President Zardari. Our opposition to the NRO doesn’t mean that we are against him or the PPP,” he said.

The interior minister told a TV channel that most of the differences with the MQM had been settled. “The few differences that remain will soon be settled as the two parties have agreed in principle to continue their consultations for the resolution of all outstanding disputes. The MQM is our ally in the government and will remain with us,” he said.

MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar said he had no details about the meeting.

Meanwhile, President Zardari continued consultations with his aides and allies to strengthen ties with coalition partners.

Over the past couple of days, he has met leaders of the Awami National Party (ANP), the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) and the MQM.

“In his meeting with an ANP delegation, the president said that the PPP as the largest political force in the country possesses the will and capacity to accommodate all political forces with divergent manifestoes on the same platform for the sake of strengthening democracy and democratic institutions,” presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.

The 17-member delegation of the ANP was led by the party’s chief Asfandyar Wali Khan.

The president said the experiment of coalition government in Pakistan was gaining strength, which was a very positive development for the growth of democracy. “If coalition partners disagree on a certain issue, it does not mean that they cannot co-exist. It is encouraging that political forces in the country agree to disagree among themselves and have matured enough not to rock the system,” the president said.

He said the PPP would play its part in strengthening the federation and a package for empowering Balochistan had almost been finalised.

The president praised the role played by the ANP in the fight against militancy.

He said that when political forces fought among themselves, the situation was exploited against democracy. Therefore, the political forces should always be alive to the situation and not let their mutual differences spill over beyond limits, he said.

He said the PPP was determined to take all political forces on board to strengthen democracy.

The ANP chief said dialogue was the essence of democracy. He said the ANP appreciated the fact that the president had for the first time described the region as Pakhtunkhawa in his addressed to the United Nations and parliament.
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