April 29, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 22, 1429

KARACHI, April 28: After a series of talks, the Pakistan People’s Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement finally struck a power-sharing deal and agreed to form a coalition government in Sindh.

Apparently because of the fragile political situation, the parties were reluctant on Monday to divulge details of the power-sharing formula.

Sources confirmed that an accord had been reached under which the MQM would get eight ministries and five advisers in the Sindh cabinet.

The sources said that the MQM would join the PPP-led government by Friday. They also said that the party leadership was interviewing 50 MPAs to select eight ministers and the process might take two to three days.

According to sources in the MQM, Syed Sardar Ahmed, Shoaib Bukhari, Adil Siddiqui, Askari Taqvi, Raza Haroon and Faisal Subzwari were likely to be made ministers while M.A. Jalil and Ashfaq Mangi would be made chief minister’s advisers.

It is learnt that the PPP would also accommodate two MNAs of the MQM in the federal cabinet.

PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is reported to have given his consent to the deal and he is expected to travel to London soon to meet MQM chief Altaf Hussain.

It is learnt that Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik and Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad were instrumental in reviving dialogue between the two parties after the MQM announced on April 13 that the talks had failed and it would sit in the opposition.

The reasons which the party had given for the failure of talks were the appointment of Dr Shoaib Suddle as Sindh police chief and ‘non-serious’ attitude of the PPP.

However, back-channel contacts continued and a committee comprising representatives of both parties met on April 22 in Islamabad. Another round of talks was held in Islamabad on April 26 in which the draft of an agreement was prepared.

It may be noted that the MQM had withdrawn unconditionally its candidate for the election of prime minister and the party’s MNAs voted in favour of PPP candidate Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. Subsequently, on April 2, Mr Zardari visited the MQM headquarters and expressed his gratitude for MQM’s gesture.