ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: MNA Qari Gul Rahman of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal met Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday.

According to a handout, the prime minister said the government was encouraging politics of national reconciliation and people from different political disciplines should assemble on a platform to promote unity and prosperity.

Prime Minister Aziz welcomed the support of Qari Rahman for President Pervez Musharraf’s re-election and said a stronger and vibrant Pakistan based on consistency and continuity of policies would be of benefit to the entire nation.

He said Pakistan would become stronger if people from different affiliations came together.

The prime minister “appreciated the sagacity and political consciousness of the legislators who voted to re-elect President Musharraf to ensure that Pakistan continued on the path of progress, development and prosperity”.

Qari Rahman said his support to President Musharraf was for national unity and strength of the country.

He appealed to ulema to support nation-building efforts and development and progress for the greater strength of the country. He also presented various proposals for development in his constituency to the prime minister.

Qari Rahman, who hails from a backward area of Batagram district, was elected on a Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Sami) ticket from a constituency in Karachi. He had deserted his faction of the JUI when its chief Maulana Samiul Haq parted ways with the MMA.

He was among the four MMA legislators who chose not to resign from their parliamentary seats on the call of the All Parties’ Democratic Movement before President Musharraf’s election.