Zardari asks Shujaat to woo JUI-F, MQM

LAHORE: President Asif Ali Zardari has asked PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to persuade the JUI-F and MQM to rejoin the federal government.

“PPP`s own efforts to woo the JUI-F and MQM have failed and the party leadership believes that Shujaat Hussain has good relations with Maulana Fazlur Rahman and he can also act as a `guarantor` between the PPP and the MQM,” a presidential aide told this reporter.
The president and Chaudhry Shujaat, he said, vowed to “meet after the issue of the estranged coalition partners was settled to finalise the modalities of a new national reconciliation government”.
Chaudhry Shujaat is reported to have agreed to persuade the JUI chief but has not promised anything about the MQM.
A PML-Q leader said Maulana Fazl had great respect for Chaudhry Shujaat and would find it difficult to say `no` to him. As far as the MQM was concerned, the PML-Q chief did not want to become guarantor on PPP`s behalf. However, he said, Chaudhry Shujaat would talk to the Muttahida leadership.
Dr Farooq Sattar, deputy convener of the MQM coordination committee, said his party had strong reservations over the way the government was functioning. “There is need to take steps to end violence and extortion in Karachi and prepare sustainable, people-friendly economic policies. The budget for 2011-12 should not be a conventional one.”
Dr Sattar did not set any conditions to rejoin the government. “We are sitting on the treasury benches to save the system and want the government to take us into confidence in decision-making.”
On the other hand, a number of PML-Q leaders met Chaudhry Shujaat and Pervaiz Elahi on Wednesday and discussed the `benefits and harms` of an alliance with the PPP.
The party`s central executive committee and its Punjab parliamentary committee will meet in Lahore on Thursday.
According to sources, the PML-Q has decided in principle to join the government but linked it to the return of the JUI-F and MQM to the coalition.
It is reported to have demanded five to seven ministries and the post of deputy prime minister or Punjab governor.
The PML-Q leader said: “Our leadership has not yet sought specific ministries but will hold a final round of discussions with President Zardari to finalise matters after consulting party leaders.”
Most leaders of the party are of the view that the move will help unite the PML-Q and place it in a good bargaining position for the next elections, especially in rural areas of Punjab where it enjoys considerable support.