KARACHI, May 22: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Monday acknowledged its differences with the Sindh chief minister by expressing its reservations about his unspecified policies but said that it was engaged in a process to overcome the situation.

“We have some reservations and differences with the chief minister. That is why we stayed away from the assembly session today and on Friday,” said Syed Sardar Ahmad, Sindh Minister for Excise and Taxation, while reluctantly responding to a volley of questions at a news conference on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the media was given the impression that the press conference that was to be held in the afternoon related to the issue of coalition partners’ confidence in the chief minister, but to everyone’s surprise, it turned out to be the routine briefing pertaining to the performance of the city government.

In reply to a question, Sardar Ahmad said that dialogue was going on at the provincial level but he did not spell out the issues involved. He was asked whether the issue was being discussed at the level of President Gen Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz or Mr Tariq Aziz, the regime’s trouble-shooter.

Although the MQM MPAs were not willing to talk about their differences with the chief minister, sources said that they differed on the question of providing employment to the people of Sindh, carving out of the new districts and control over DCOs and other ranks of the bureaucracy besides the demolition of goths. According to sources, the MQM is irritated by the alleged obstruction being created by the CM’s camp in absorbing thousands of those people who have gone through the process and have been waiting for their placement. The issue is sensitive for both the MQM and the chief minister, who is banking on the support from the MPAs representing rural Sindh.

The Sindh governor’s sudden decision to prorogue the assembly session and the evasive attitude of the MQM MPAs led media to believe that last minute developments, generally believed to have taken place due to some high-level intervention, changed the tone and contents of the press conference. On persistent questions, Syed Sardar Ahmad and MPA Mohammad Hussain promised to hold another press conference on the subject in a day or two.

Interestingly, while the MQM minister acknowledged differences with the chief minister, the written text read out by Sardar Ahmad at the news conference stated that “for the first time in Pakistan’s political history, an unprecedented harmony and cooperation among the federal, provincial and city governments exists owing to which all resources are being utilised for the overall development of Karachi and turning it into a modern 21st century city.”

When his attention was drawn to the statement the chief minister made during the assembly session on Monday saying that his government had some differences with the MQM over the ‘interests of Sindh’, Mr Ahmad said he had no knowledge about the CM’s statement and, as such, he could only comment on it after going through the same.

"Our party is engaged in a dialogue with the fellow partners and would inform media about all the developments in this context,” said Mr Ahmad.

Earlier, addressing the press conference, Mr Ahmad and Mr Hussain talked about the mega projects being undertaken by the city government to develop Karachi in line with the modern needs. They said Karachi would become a ‘model city’ during the MQM-backed city government’s tenure.

“We are committed to our cause and we believe that our city will soon become one of a few large and developed cities of the world,” said Mr Ahmad.

He said that with the completion of K-III project, the MQM leadership had overcome the persistent water crisis in the city. The project had been completed three months ahead of schedule and an amount of around Rs150 million was saved, he added.

They pointed out that the city government had launched various development projects in the city with a collective cost of around Rs55 billion. Some 551 development projects were being completed at a cost of Rs31.31 billion provided by the government while the city government had signed an agreement with a Malaysian company, IJM, to start an elevated expressway between Quaidabad and Jinnah Bridge at a cost of some Rs24 billion.

They also referred to the projects of underpasses, flyovers, as well as water and sewerage schemes, some of which were initiated by the previous city government. They made mention of the special package announced by the city nazim for Lyari, and praised him for his untiring efforts.

They noted that the MQM’s rival religious and political parties were opposing the projects aimed at developing the city, and expressed the confidence that the opponents’ propaganda would not succeed.