KARACHI, April 7: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Sunday announced the it had decided to adopt a “policy of silence” regarding the referendum seeking support for President General Pervez Musharraf.

The announcement was made in Karachi following a meeting of the MQM central coordination committee.

The coordination committee asked its office bearers, workers and sympathizers to decide for themselves whether they wished to vote or not.

“The referendum is directly addressed to the people and not to the political parties of Pakistan. So as a political party the MQM has decided to leave this matter to people of Pakistan and now it is for them to decide according to their conscience”, said Aftab Shaikh, deputy convener MQM.

He said that at present the country was passing through a very critical geopolitical and strategic phase and a debate over the constitutional position regarding the referendum at that moment might cause chaos in the country.

The coordination committee announced that their stand on the formation of the government was very clear;the MQM believed in democracy.

Mr Shaikh said that true democracy would lead the country to prosperity. He demanded the provision of full autonomy to the provinces.—PPI