Govt allies still in uneasy situation

LAHORE/KARACHI: The government allies -- PML-Q, MQM-P and BNP -- are still uneasy in their relationship with the ruling PTI mainly because of unfulfilled agreements.

The PML-Q President, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, said on Sunday that settled matters should be first implemented and then further talks with the PTI will be held. He was chairing an emergency meeting of his party attended by Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, Senator Kamil Ali Agha, MNAs Moonis Elahi, Hussain Elahi, Khalid Ranjha, Salim Baryaar, Mian Munir, Advocate Alamgir, Advocate Jahangir A Jhoja, Amna Ulfat, Sh Umer Hayat and other leaders.

During the meeting, views were exchanged in detail on recent statements of the prime minister, government party members, relations with the government, constitution of new negotiation team of the party and the prevailing situation.

All participants agreed on the point that the PTI leadership should be made to understand that when political matters are settled, frequent changes create mistrust. They said change is a good thing but tradition of frequent changes is not good. They said they had a written agreement with the PTI prior to the election, which has not been implemented. Then after forming the government, first negotiations team was constituted but no decision of it was implemented. After this, matters were settled with the second committee, but it was dissolved and now the third committee is being constituted. “We think that the first decisions which were taken in the second committee should be implemented and only then new matters will be thrashed out,” the PML-Q leaders said.

Chaudhry Shujaat further said they are cooperating with the PTI government keeping in view the national interest, but the PTI’s few ministers and notables are securing their interests by creating misunderstandings between the PML-Q and PM. “We are more concerned and care about national interests and rights and problems of the people than ministries, and we have focused all our attention towards this. We have always taken decisions for peoples’ rights and interest of the country and are steadfast on this principle,” he added.

The meeting also considered Punjab Governor Ch Sarwar’s statement wherein he had appreciated the statements of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Pervaiz Elahi, saying they have talked sense by saying that all will suffer if the PTI-PML-Q alliance is broken.

Meanwhile, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar said the PTI also wanted to have coalition with the PML-Q in the local government polls as well as in the next general elections.

Talking to the media after inaugurating a handicraft here at the Governor House, Chaudhry Sarwar said Chaudhry Shujaat and Pervaiz Elahi had rightly said that the end of coalition would be equally harmful for the PTI and the Q-League. The governor said the Chaudhry brothers did not object over his name in the government committee as he had old and good relations with them.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had constituted a committee headed by him (governor) to hold dialogue with the Q-League. “We will soon make a formal contact with the PML-Q leadership and all their reservations will surely be removed,” he said.

The governor said allied parties have difference of opinion which does not mean end of the government, and lack of consensus does not mean infighting.

"The PML-Q, MQM, Balochistan Awami Party and all other allies are with the government and none of them is talking of toppling the government," he maintained.

"We have to set aside what happened in the past and now have to move ahead, and I am sure the matters between the Q-League and the government will be settled down,” he said.

To a question, he said no doubt, there were issues regarding price-hike and governance, however, the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan was laying greater focus to do away with price-hike and ensure good governance during 2020.

Meanwhile, after the failure of PTI federal ministers in convincing the MQM-P to rejoin the federal cabinet, the federal government has given the task to Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to woo the leaders of its estranged ally from Sindh.

Although, the MQM-P insists that Sanjrani’s goodwill gesture visit on Sunday was to extend thanks for supporting him in the Senate, the Senate chairman’s meeting shows that the federal government has now sought help from the Balochistan Awami Party, one of its key allies from Balochistan, in persuading the MQM-P to re-join the federal cabinet. It also shows that the ruling PTI’s previous two high-powered delegations, headed by federal ministers Asad Umar and Pervaiz Khattak, had failed in convincing the MQM-P in their meetings held last month.

Sanjrani on Sunday visited the MQM-P Secretariat in Bahadurabad and met the party leadership, including convener and resigned federal minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Aamir Khan, Faisal Sabzwari and Syed Aminul Haque. Sanjrani was accompanied by Naseebullah Bazai and Ahmed Khan, two senators from Balochistan.

Following the meeting, Sanjrani alongside the MQM-P leaders, spoke to the media, where he said Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui should think about returning to the federal cabinet because it will allow him to work more effectively for his people. Commending Siddiqui as an intelligent person, Sanjrani said that he should consult his party and re-join the federal cabinet to serve the country.

Sanjrani also thanked the MQM-P for support to him in retaining the post of the chairman of Senate in August when the opposition’s no-confidence motion against him was presented in the Upper House.

He also announced that the BAP chief and Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Alyani would also visit the MQM-P leadership soon.

The MQM-P leader Aminul Haque told The News that the Sunday's meeting between Sanjrani and his party leaders was held in a pleasant manner and it was mainly a goodwill gesture visit to thank the MQM-P to support him in the Senate polls.

“The MQM-P has also shown its reservations on non-fulfilment of the nine-point memorandum of understanding (MoU). We have also informed Sanjrani about the amendments to the Sindh Local Government Act that have been depriving the residents of urban Sindh, particularly Karachi and Hyderabad, of their fundamental rights,” he said.