ISLAMABAD, Dec 23: Dr Ishratul Ibad, the MQM nominee for the office of the Sindh governor, on Monday called on President Pervez Musharraf and discussed matters relating to his appointment.

Mr Ibad told a news conference after the two-hour meeting that he had called on the president in his capacity as the acting convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the “governor-designate”.

He was not sure when he would be administered the oath.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader has been accorded the official protocol already as the news conference he addressed was held in the sprawling Sindh House where a Mercedes Benz was parked in the porch. Flanked by Nasreen Jalil, the MQM leader said that no case against any MQM worker would be withdrawn but the trial process would be expedited.

He said he had delivered a message of goodwill from Altaf Hussain to President Musharraf who reciprocated with a similar message.

Mr Ibad said President Musharraf had expressed the hope that the MQM would continue playing its role for the strengthening of democratic institutions.

Asked whether he was wanted in any criminal case, the MQM leader said he was not aware of any such case. He said he had left the country in 1993 and had not received any court notice on his “address”.

He said he had left the country when an operation against the MQM was being conducted and his house was raided and his nine-month-old son was thrown on the floor by a member of the raiding party.

Asked under what agreement he had returned and what mandate he had been given by Altaf Russian, Mr Ibad said he had returned with the plan to end the rural-urban divide in Sindh. “Altaf Bhai’s mandate is to serve the people honestly and sincerely.”

About the no-go areas, he said it was a reality and his endeavour as governor would be to establish the writ of the state. He elaborated that some criminal elements who had been expelled from the MQM due to their activities, had displaced 1,200 families. Those families, he added, were not allowed to live in their own houses.

He said the MQM had decided to back the government only in greater national interest as withdrawing its support would have created an anarchic situation in the country.

He said the issue of return of Altaf Hussain was not discussed with the president. “Altaf Bhai left the country as it was apprehended by the Rabita Committee of the MQM that his life was in danger. Such great leaders are born in centuries and we should take all care to protect them,” he said.

Mr Ibad said that those people who were compelled to support the Haqiqi — whom he called criminal elements — would not be touched. He, however, warned that the “criminal elements” would be taken to task and penalised according to law.

Mr Ibad recalled that the MQM’s past experience with the establishment was not pleasant but hoped that past mistakes would not be repeated.

When his attention was drawn to the fact that the establishment had been calling the MQM a separatist organization which was working on an agenda to create Jinnahpur, Mr Ibad denied that the MQM had any such plan. He challenged that those elements who were showing the maps and other documents of Jinnahpur should substantiate their claims.

He said all cases against Altaf Hussain were concocted and politically motivated. About the collection of bhatta in Karachi, he said it was being done on individual level and the MQM as a political party was not involved in it. Mr Ibad said he had some ideas for checking the menace but did not divulge them.

About the MQM’s talks with the PPP, he said the MQM had to side with other political forces in the province due to a non-serious attitude of the PPP. He said the PPP leaders were pursuing a personal agenda, forcing the MQM to hold negotiations with other political forces.