The sources said prior to finalising the written agreement, a meeting of President Asif Ali Zardari with the Chaudhry brothers - Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi - was also expected within next two or three days.
They said the MQM was also on board for the broad-based government and it was also assured that its economic agenda would also be implemented. “After getting this assurance, the MQM has agreed conditionally to join the cabinet of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani,” the sources added.
They said President Zardari and Chaudhry Shujaat had kept direct contacts with MQM chief Altaf Hussain. It is expected that Chaudhry Shujaat and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi will hold a meeting with the MQM delegation today (Tuesday) on the issue of joining the broad-based government.
The sources said talks were going on with the JUI-F, but no headway had been made in this regard. Before leaving for Europe, the sources said, JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman held a meeting with President Zardari. “In that meeting an important political personality was also present, but the chances of the JUI-F to rejoin the government are remote,” the sources added.
They said the PPP and the PML-Q had completed their homework to give final touches to four-point agenda of reviving economy, controlling inflation, improving law and order, and tackling the energy crisis. “Both parties have agreed on a written agreement on a four-point agenda during four rounds of the negotiations in recent days.”
According to the agreement, the PML-Q will have one senior federal minister, five federal ministers and eight ministers of state, and three advisers in provincial governments of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa and Balochistan will also be inducted with the status of provincial ministers.
The sources said under the formula, the PML-Q would also have share in the coming Senate elections scheduled to be held in March next year. As per agreement, there is also a clause in which both parties agreed on seat-to-seat adjustments in the local government elections. Both parties also agreed in principle on the formation of the provinces of Seraiki and Hazara, while they were also considering the proposal of giving the status of province to Bahawalpur. However, sources said it was yet to decided whether the provinces of Seraiki and Hazara would be created in the present tenure or after the next general elections.
The sources rejected the reports that National Assembly speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza would be replaced with a PML-Q lawmaker, saying no such proposal was ever come in the discussion. The sources said it was also decided that a top PML-Q leader would be replaced with Hussain Haroon in the United Nations to represent Pakistan. They said both parties also agreed that there would be no changes in the portfolios of PPP ministers and only vacant ministries would be given to PML-Q parliamentarians.
The sources said the PML-Q would nominate its lawmakers for ministries of information technology, water and power, defence production, parliamentary affairs and human rights, investment, and Ministry of Science and Technology. The MQM was offered same ministries including ministries of overseas Pakistanis, port and shipping, and housing and works.
