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Karachi: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said yesterday that it is not likely to join the Pakistan Peoples Party-led coalition government and will be part of the opposition both at the centre and the Sindh province.
"So far the PPP has not started any formal and meaningful talks with us despite the fact that we extended maximum cooperation," Haider Rizvi, a senior MQM leader and member National Assembly, told Gulf News. "We will sit in the opposition both in Sindh province and at the centre," he said.
PPP sources said that the MQM had been kept out of the cabinet because of the bitter opposition by Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), which wants all President Musharraf loyalists out of the new power-set-up.
However, a strong lobby within PPP wants MQM in the coalition to give representation to urban Sindh which is dominated by the MQM.
Party's decision
Rizvi said that the business community wants MQM to join hands with the PPP. MQM's leader Altaf Hussain will address the business leaders today to take them into confidence regarding his party's decision, he said.
"MQM will formally announce its decision of joining hands with the opposition in the next couple of days," he said. "We will be nominating our candidates for the slot of speaker and deputy speaker for the Sindh Assembly which will hold its session on April 5," he said.
MQM voted for Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani over the request of PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, but since then talks between the two sides have stalled.
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