"The Muttahida Qaumi Movement announces it will sit on the government benches in the larger interest of the country and democracy," senior MQM member Raza Haroon told a news conference with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.[break]
He claimed that the party had "decided to sacrifice" itself again for the sake of democracy and join the government in view of the "deteriorating law and order situation and economic conditions of our people".
Gilani invited the MQM back into government at crunch talks on Friday in order to restore his majority in parliament, 24 hours after caving into a key MQM demand and reversing controversial fuel price hikes.
A visibly relieved prime minister said: "We welcome the MQM decision and appreciate their sentiments for democracy in Pakistan and hope our association will last long in the larger interest of the people of Pakistan."
In a sign of how determined he was to keep his fragile government alive, Gilani had flown to Karachi, the MQM´s powerbase, to visit its party headquarters for the since becoming premier in 2008.
The MQM walked out of government last Sunday, taking its 25 lawmakers on to the opposition benches. The move saw Gilani lose his majority in parliament and raised fears that his administration could be forced to call early elections.
With the MQM lawmakers off the opposition benches and back on the treasury benches, Gilani leads a coalition that again controls a slender majority of around 185 seats in the 342-member lower house of parliament.
The prime minister told reporters he had discussed all MQM´s "issues and reservations" in detail by telephone with its leader, Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London and promised to work together on all future decisions.
On government plans to introduce reformed general sales tax, Gilani gave an assurance that he would not act "without consultation with our partners."
"So far we have done everything on consensus. No such tax will be introduced without consensus, I assured Mr Altaf Hussain."
The Pakistan People´s Party (PPP) government has faced opposition to efforts to introduce a general sales tax, which the United States and other donors have welcomed, on the grounds that it will affect ordinary people the most.
"We believe in his (Gilani´s) promise that the reformed general sales tax will not be introduced without a consensus among all parliamentary parties," the MQM´s Haroon said.
The MQM had attributed its withdrawal from government to the hike in fuel prices and government failures to handle fiscal reform, corruption and inflation, but relations soured with Gilani´s PPP over political violence in Karachi last year.
A senior PPP leader had blamed MQM supporters over the killings.
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