MQM willing to talk to PPP, PML-N on Govt formation

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a close ally of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, has indicated its willingness to hold parleys with the PPP and PML-N on forming a government.

For the "sake of national solidarity, prosperity and welfare of the people", the MQM is willing to forget the past and look forward to bringing stability to Pakistan, party chief Altaf Hussein said at the party secretariat in London.

The MQM has performed well in the polls to the National Assembly and the provincial assembly of Sindh, with initial results showing it had bagged over 15 seats in the lower house of parliament.

Hussein said he was willing to hold a dialogue with the Pakistan Peoples Party and PML-N, which have swept the polls, on the possibility of forming a government at the centre or in Sindh in the "larger national interest".

He said such a dialogue could only be successful if the other parties were "equally sincere and earnest in achieving" the same objective.

The MQM has had strained relations with the PPP, mainly due to the struggle between the two parties to establish dominance in the economic hub of Karachi.

Hussein said without talks or negotiations, mutual differences and reservations could not be removed. "If any party wants to talks to us, we would welcome it with sincerity and an open heart," he said.