Zardari looks to calm seething MQM – again

MQM expected to demand Mirza’s resignation, minister says he is ready to do so.

KARACHI:

Dr Zulfiqar Mirza has said he is willing to step down as Sindh home minister, a concession that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is likely to demand as a minimum condition for remaining in the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led coalition in Sindh, when it meets with President Asif Ali Zardari today.

“I am a loyal worker of the PPP and party responsibility is more important to me than any portfolio,” Mirza told reporters outside the Sindh Assembly, which was boycotted by MQM legislators on Monday.

However, he refused to backtrack on his comments about the Peoples Amn Committee that have angered the PPP’s coalition partners, insisting that he had been “misunderstood”.

Some members of the MQM coordination committee announced on Sunday night that they would advise the party to quit the PPP-led coalition after Mirza called the PAC a “sub-organisation” of the PPP. The MQM says the PAC is behind incidents of kidnapping and extortion in Lyari.

Sources told The Express Tribune that at the President’s House meeting, scheduled for 3pm on Tuesday, an MQM delegation would also demand that the Sindh government launch a crackdown on the PAC as proof that it was not a part of the PPP.

The sources said that the president was likely to try his best to keep the MQM on board, in which case he would have to accept one of the MQM’s demands. But they added that this time the MQM was determined to part ways with the PPP.

The MQM Coordination Committee met again on Monday. Addressing the media after the meeting at Nine Zero, Sindh IT Minister and CC member Raza Haroon said that the committee had decided to stop working with the PPP and would convey its decision to President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani at the meeting on Tuesday. Dr Farooq Sattar, Babar Khan Ghauri, Dr Sagheer Ahmed Siddiqui and Raza Haroon will be part of the delegation that will call on Zardari.

Haroon said that the CC had decided that MQM legislators would boycott the Sindh Assembly, as well as the National Assembly and Senate proceedings.

He said that the MQM had repeatedly warned the president, the prime minister, the federal interior minister and the Sindh chief minister of the soaring crime in Karachi, but to no avail. Contrary to assurances that steps would be taken against the criminals, Mirza continued to support them and police actions  was avoided, he said.

He said the home minister was “aiding the terrorists and criminals of the PAC”, which was behind increasing incidents of kidnappings, robberies and extortion affecting traders and shopkeepers in Karachi. Now artists were also being extorted, he said. “The entire society is gripped with an acute sense of insecurity and helplessness,”
he said.

Mirza ‘misunderstood’

Mirza said that the MQM had misunderstood him. “I stand by my words. Our coalition partner misunderstood my speech regarding the Amn Committee,” he told reporters outside the Sindh Assembly on Monday.

The minister said he had taken the Sindh governor into confidence over clashes between Baloch and Katchis in Lyari. He said Interior Minister Malik was due to arrive in Karachi to resolve the matter. He added that other PPP leaders had started contacting their MQM counterparts and hoped that the MQM’s grievances would be removed.

He said that not every worker of the PAC was a criminal and there was no room for criminals in the PPP. “I have talked about the fake cases registered against PPP workers, leaders and other innocent people by the outgoing government. These cases were lodged on political grounds and they will be disposed of on merit. The government has started reviewing them.”

To a question, he said that some elements wanted to destabilise the PPP-MQM partnership. He said the media should avoid highlighting issues which would create trouble between the two parties.

He said there was no evidence that the PAC was involved in extortion or kidnapping. “We have investigated the cases and the reports are baseless. The PAC is not involved. They are peaceful people. Meanwhile, other groups are involved in extortion. We, together with the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, busted a few gangs which used to send chits to extort industrialists,” he said.

The MQM boycotted the Sindh Assembly session in protest against Mirza’s speech, but he was greeted like a hero by his PPP colleagues when he entered the assembly. The MPAs shouted “Jeay Bhutto” and “Aaya aaya sher aaya” and thumped their desks as the beaming minister walked in.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2011.