0
Mr Malik gave the assurance on behalf of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani during his meeting with MQM chief Altaf Hussain in London.
While the meeting between the interior minister and Mr Hussain lasted for about four hours in what appeared to be cordial atmosphere, sources in the MQM told Dawn that the party still had reservations over a number of decisions taken by the PPP government in the province.
They said that Mr Malik assured the MQM that every decision in the province would be taken after taking the MQM into confidence. However, he promised to look into the matter when some participants of the meeting informed him of a notification issued on Tuesday morning to appoint the Sindh local government minister as the chairman of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board without consulting the MQM.
“Our relations with the PPP only depend on the behaviour of its local leadership...we will see how they would respond to our proposals that had been given to them for formulating a new local government law,” said an MQM leader.
According to a statement issued from London, the MQM chief told Mr Malik that he had unconditionally supported the PPP and wanted that the alliance between the two parties remained intact. However, some elements were conspiring against the PPP-MQM alliance, he added.
Mr Malik assured Mr Hussain that the PPP considered the MQM as its important ally and stressed the need for discussing all issues between the two parties in the meetings of the core committee.
The president's interlocutor was in London due to the demise of his mother-in-law when the MQM reacted strongly to the announcement made by the PM that Hyderabad district would be restored to its pre-2005 shape.
Mr Hussain had declared that his party would quit the People's Party-led coalition government if any unilateral decision was imposed.
