LAHORE, July 24: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is trying to hold a conference of all mainstream parties to forge a consensus on resolving issues of national importance.

MQM’s deputy convener Dr Farooq Sattar said this after visiting Mansoora (the headquarters of Jamaat-i-Islami) on Tuesday along with other leaders of his party to persuade the JI to become a part of the move.

It was the third visit by an MQM delegation to the JI headquarters since it contacted the religious party in March last year to discuss the political scenario.

“We say that any political party can get credit for organising and hosting such an important roundtable conference, to create consensus and unity among all parties for facing challenges faced by the country,” Dr Sattar told reporters at a press conference in the Mansoora auditorium after holding talks with JI chief Syed Munawar Hasan.

Answering a question, he expressed ignorance about a decision reported to have been taken by the federal cabinet at an urgent meeting that no letter would be sent to the Swiss authorities for reopening cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

“For the past couple of days, I have been on a mission to initiate efforts for holding the conference to create a broad consensus among the parties, whether inside the parliament or not.” He said MQM chief Altaf Hussain had expressed his desire for such a move during a recent speech.

Dr Sattar didn’t reply to the JI amir when the latter said: “Although there are many issues of national interest for which it is necessary to evolve a consensus through a conference, the issue of writing the letter to Swiss authorities can be resolved within no time without calling any conference.”