ISLAMABAD/KARACHI, 30 July 2006 — Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf summoned a meeting of the leadership of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other party leaders in a bid to nip the crisis, triggered by the MQM ministers’ resignation, in the bud.

Along with the MQM hierarchy, the Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad, Sindh Chief Minister Ghulam Arbab Rahim are to meet with Musharraf’s trouble shooters Tariq Aziz and Syed Mushahid Hussain in an effort to defuse the crisis.

MQM founder and leader Altaf Hussain, in a statement from London, praised the immediate action taken by President Musharraf in trying to resolve the resignation issue by calling this meeting. With this the president has proved that he has keen interest in settling the problems faced by the people.

He said the MQM has full confidence in the president to reach a lasting and satisfactory solution of the present situation. We hope that the issue of the resignations of MQM ministers and advisers will be resolved amicably.

He added that the country is facing numerous problems and crisis it is therefore, essential that all issues are resolved through dialogue.

The meeting will be held at President’s Camp Office in Rawalpindi on Tuesday next. Neither the president nor the Sindh governor have accepted the resignations of the MQM ministers.

Federal Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani said that the representatives of the federal government, Sindh government and the MQM would be attending this meeting chaired by President Musharraf and MQM reservations would be removed in the presence of all the parties. He told that the MQM was a key-ally of the government and the matters relating to them would be resolved through discussions.

MQM is an important component of the Shaukat Aziz-led coalition and Aziz is badly in need of parliamentary support of MQM as the ARD and MMA have decided to table a no-trust motion against him.

The leaders of ARD and MMA Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Qazi Hussain Ahmad told a joint press conference that the opposition “will table a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz because this government has lost popular support due to massive corruption”.

The date for the no-confidence move will be announced after the July 31 deadline, ARD and MMA central leadership said in joint press conference. This decision was taken after meeting of ARD and MMA central leadership at the residence of Fahim.

MMA chief Ahmed, Maulana Fazalur Rehman and Raza Rabbani were present in the meeting. The opposition was completely united to struggle for restoration of genuine democracy in the country, Fahim said.

Meanwhile, work in different departments of the Sindh government has come to a standstill. Provincial ministers and advisers of the MQM did not attend office while senior provincial minister Sardar Ahmed and other MQM ministers and advisers relinquished official vehicles and other incentives, according to reports.

Sindh Chief Minister Rahim, however, has been silent on MQM’s decision, but he lauded the policies of President Musharraf and said that the country needed his leadership. Rahim said that people are fed up of hollow slogans and now demand practical steps.

MMA Chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad said the MQM decision to quit the federal and provincial governments was a “political gimmick”. “The MQM’s decision to quit Cabinet posts is not a new thing, it is part of the same political gimmickry this party has had a habit of [doing] since it came into being,” said Ahmad.

He said the MQM tendered the resignations only to serve its political interests. “We have repeatedly seen the MQM leadership blackmail the government to gain political mileage and serve its own petty interests,” Ahmed said.

However, he added that if the MQM’s trickery had a high price and caused the present regime’s ouster, it would be a “pleasant surprise” for the people of Pakistan.

The MMA also alleged that dozens of its activists have been arrested from different parts of the metropolis during protest demonstrations, against the Israeli aggression and brutal bombardment on innocent citizens of Lebanon and Palestine.

The arrests came when MMA activists tried to hold protest demonstrations at Shah Faisal Colony, Osmania Colony, Liaquatabad, Bihar Colony Lyari, Golimar, Gizri, Zaman Town, Orangi Town, Nazimabad, Buffer Zone and other areas of the city.

He said that the police action was unlawful and the Constitution of Pakistan guarantees freedom of expression and right to speech to its citizens.

He accused the government of violating fundamental rights of the citizens.