ISLAMABAD, March 22: After MQM’s Dr Farooq Sattar withdrew his name from the prime minister’s election, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q has decided to field Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as the joint opposition candidate.

Speaking at a press conference after chairing a crucial party meeting on Saturday, PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain recalled that after elections, he had given a free hand to the MQM to take decision on the basis of the situation in Sindh and its decision was not unexpected.

Party sources said that although the name of the former Punjab chief minister as the opposition candidate had been finalised, it will be made public on Sunday before the filing of nomination papers.

Chaudhry Shujaat made it clear that the party had decided not to leave the field empty and to remain part of the democratic process by fielding its candidate against the PPP.

Some party leaders accused the MQM of ditching the opposition and joining the new government coalition, apparently after receiving the nod from presidency.

Many party leaders termed the MQM’s decision deceptive and said that it had weakened the opposition but they supported the idea of maintaining discipline and playing a positive role to help the process of democratisation of the institutions.

If the MQM joined coalition government in the centre, the opposition might be reduced to under-55 MNAs despite its claim of support of three of five PML-F MNAs and one PPP (Sherpao) and 52 of PML-Q’s own.

Earlier, in their meeting with Chaudhry Shujaat at his residence, the MQM team, led by Dr Farooq Sattar, said that the party would sit on opposition benches in the centre while joining the PPP in forming the Sindh government. This is similar to the pattern of the MMA which ruled the NWFP government for five years, shared power in Balochistan while sitting in opposition at the centre.

In a brief chat with reporters after meeting with Chaudhry Shujaat, Dr Sattar said the party had withdrawn his name from the contest after consulting the opposition partners.

Political observers in the capital believed that MQM’s move could damage the trust level between the upcoming PPP-PML-N coalition, giving a vital lifeline to an otherwise isolated President Pervez Musharraf.

No PML-F member attended the meeting while the PPP (Sherpao) was represented by Senator Miss Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli. No one from the Sherpao group had taken part in the two previous meetings.