KARACHI, April 4: An eight-member committee comprising leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement met here on Friday night to work out a power-sharing formula for Sindh.

The MQM was represented by Dr Farooq Sattar, Babar Ghauri, Adil Siddiqui and Syed Sardar Ahmed, while chief minister-designate Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Pir Mazharul Haq, Dr Zulfiqar Mirza and N.D. Khan represented the PPP.

Sources told Dawn that PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and MQM chief Altaf Hussain had decided that their parties would work together in the province but modalities were being sorted out.

They said the PPP was ready to work with Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, a nominee of the MQM, and the only agenda of the meeting was to decide the number of ministers and their portfolios.

The MQM wanted the post of deputy speaker of the provincial assembly and 40 per cent share in the cabinet, they said.

The sources said the MQM was interested in the departments of planning and development or finance, local government, health, education, labour, transport, industries, environment and information technology.

According to the sources, Mr Zardari had assured Mr Hussain that he would persuade former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to accept the MQM as a coalition partner in the federal government.

Opinion

Editorial

Threat perception
07 Dec, 2024

Threat perception

THE threat that violent armed groups pose to Pakistan’s security and stability cannot be understated. Month after...
Humanity at risk
07 Dec, 2024

Humanity at risk

HUMAN trafficking continues to remain an area where the state has utterly failed its citizens. While global...
Banks and larger goals
07 Dec, 2024

Banks and larger goals

THAT banks in Pakistan “prioritise profit over purpose” and promote financial products with limited knowledge of...
Gaza genocide
Updated 06 Dec, 2024

Gaza genocide

Unless Western states cease their unflinching support to Israel, the genocide is unlikely to end.
Agri tax changes
06 Dec, 2024

Agri tax changes

IT is quite surprising if not disconcerting to see the PPP government in Sindh dragging its feet on the changes to...
AJK unrest
06 Dec, 2024

AJK unrest

THERE is trouble brewing in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, where a coalition comprising various civil society organisations...