Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the second largest component of the ruling coalition after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), on Monday night said that it had decided to quit the Federal Cabinet. According to a statement, a joint co-ordination committee meeting held simultaneously at Karachi and London on Monday. The committee unanimously decided that both the federal ministers, Dr Farooq Sattar and Babar Khan Ghauri, would quit from the cabinet in the first phase.

The resignations of both the ministers would be sent to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani "very soon". The statement also said that the party federal ministers' resignation was a first step and a decision on whether to stay part of the federal government as well as the Sindh government would be taken soon. During the meeting, the state of MQM-PPP relationship came under discussion. The committee concluded that it no longer felt the need to be part of federal cabinet where its suggestions and recommendations had been blatantly ignored.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2010