Sindh vs Centre

The federal and Sindh governments are in a bind of sorts. There is little agreement in the rhetoric proffered to the public, namely by the federal government represented by Prime Minister Imran Khan, and the Sindh government represented by Governor Imran Ismail and Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. In two separate issues, a lack of unity is apparent, which runs the risk of an already fragile democracy crumbling further.

Perhaps the HIV disaster at a separate Sindh hospital prompted the federal government to garner control of three major Sindh hospitals: National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, National Institute of Child Health, and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. For a long time, the three entities have been run primarily by members of the Pakistan Peoples Party. Though certainly not a flawless system, the facilities continue to offer medical support and relief to patients from different strata of society. The federal government’s move to take over the three hospitals, although with new faces at the Centre, is curious. Federal focus should instead be on regulations to confront operations of illicit healthcare facilities. Furthermore, all must be reminded that the objective should exclusively remain to deliver quality healthcare in the best interests of the public; politics should be kept out of the picture, even for government-run hospitals.

Along with a PTI-PPP disagreement, the PTI is facing an internal tussle. Prime Minister Imran Khan clarified the words of the Governor Imran Ismail who alluded to the formation of a new Sindh province. Seemingly, his words were misinterpreted and PM Khan’s clarification sounds plausible; that the local government system be developed to efficiency much like the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa model. Sindh, as the country’s second-largest population-wise province, is in dire need of an organised system of control. However, demands for a division of the province need to be scrutinised as sensitivities have regularly run high with various parties in power over time. At present, there is a power struggle between the PPP and the PTI in Sindh but the players are reminded that the game is still on. Residents will be the only ones struggling as parties play off their egos.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2019.

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