Pir Pagara leaves PPP out in the cold in his ‘grand’ electoral alliance

Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed joins hands with the PML-F.

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) chief Pir Pagara has decided to form a “grand alliance” before the upcoming elections and has decided to leave the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) out of it.

He will visit Punjab by the end of the month to talk to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief and leaders of other political parties. Pir Pagara reportedly told Awami Muslim League chief and former Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid leader Sheikh Rashid Ahmed during a meeting on Saturday that he would make efforts to unite all Muslim League factions and also convince other parties to join their alliance.

The PML-F chief told media personnel that the country is passing through a critical phase and, therefore, an electoral alliance is the only way to get rid of the incumbent government. “Sheikh Sahib and PML-N leaders have invited me to discuss future course of action before the election season. I will meet Nawaz Sharif in Lahore and then visit Lal Haveli [Sheikh Rashid’s residence] by the end of this month,” said Pir Pagara.

Sheikh Rashid said on the occasion that political parties need to unite in order to “get rid of the PPP-led government,” which, he claimed, had damaged the country. Rashid added that his party has already decided to form an alliance with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and would approach various factions of Muslim League ahead of the elections as well. “I assure you that many alliances are about to be made before the election scheduled is announced. I have come here to seek Pir Pagara’s guidance about [forming] a powerful alliance, which can win the upcoming elections and form the next government,” he said.



Perhaps not to estrange the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which has a sizable vote bank in urban areas in Sindh, Sheikh said that he will also try to convince the MQM to join their alliance as well. “Since the MQM is a major stakeholder in Karachi, we would approach them. There are reports that MQM is also not happy with the PPP, and that it is willing to break away from the coalition government by the upcoming election.”

Sheikh Rashid added that they will meet MQM leaders and share with them details on these emerging alliances. He said that without MQM’s support, any political alliance in Sindh would be “worthless”. The outspoken Sheikh Rashid, however, was stumped for a while when asked about the Lahore High Court’s recent decision regarding the controversial Kalabagh Dam project. “It is a sensitive issue and I cannot speak any further on it.”

Rifts with the PPP

The PML-F chief has in the past hinted that he was not really satisfied with his party’s alliance with the PPP. During an iftar this year, Pir Pagara expressed his displeasure with the “local leadership” of the PPP, which, he claimed, were defying the orders of its co-chairman, President Asif Ali Zardari.

The rift widened when the PPP-led government promulgated the Sindh Peoples Local Government Ordinance in September. PML-F ministers Jam Madad Ali and Rafique Banbhan then resigned from the assembly, while its other legislators requested to sit on opposition benches. Governor Ishratul Ebad accepted the resignation of the ministers on November 28.

The PML-F also lent its support to the nationalists in their protests against the new local government system. Pir Pagara has said that his party will continue to protest against the system until it is withdrawn.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2012.