ISLAMABAD, July 23: Leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and member of Sindh provincial assembly Waseem Ahmed said his party was ready to talk to Ulema, leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Awami National Party (ANP) and all others to resolve the outstanding national issues and assure peace all over the country.

He made the statement while speaking at a press conference in Islamabad on Monday flanked by traders from the twin cities.

Ahmed further said that MQM had been working on organising a roundtable conference for peace and added that his party did not have any hidden political agenda behind the move as the party “intends to contest upcoming elections in all the provinces single handedly”.

He alleged that external hands were involved in Balochistan and that was why his party’s head Altaf Hussain demanded, “Now, the time was ripe enough to forget all our differences and work in unison for the betterment of the country.”

During the press conference, President Ghee Mills Association Abdul Waheed Sheikh and Choudhry Jahanzeb Khursheed of Khursheed Jewelers announced to join MQM.

On this, Waseem Ahmed commented that people from all over the country had been joining the party which showed that his party’s policies were in line with the public interest.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Waheed said that traders had been paying taxes for decades but those who had been earning billions of rupees from agriculture sector since the inception of Pakistan were not paying even a single penny.

Since MQM had been struggling for imposition of the agriculture tax for the last many years which was also the demand of the traders, it attracted new members.