Power-sharing deal: PPP, MQM agree to amend LG system
MQM is likely to rejoin govt in the next few days.
ISLAMABAD:
The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) have agreed on a new power-sharing formula whereby amendments will be made to the local government system of 2001.
In a meeting in the Presidency on Tuesday night, Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad discussed the contours of the new alignment and MQM’s possible return to the PPP-led ruling coalition. Following the deal, the MQM is likely to rejoin the government in the next few days, sources told The Express Tribune.
PPP’s Sindh chapter wants to amend the LG system 2001 which was reintroduced in the province on the MQM demand in place of the local government system of 1979 that the provincial government had approved after the MQM pulled out of the coalition in June.
“PPP’s Sindh chapter doesn’t want a certain aide of President Zardari to be part of the (legal) committee. It also wants to restrict the role of a federal minister in the affairs of Sindh. We have to work out necessary amendments before a bill is tabled in the provincial assembly,” a PPP leader who attended the meeting told The Express Tribune.
The meeting also discussed the empowerment of law-enforcement agencies to maintain peace in the province. The MQM has been demanding the home ministry in the provincial cabinet besides assurances that it would be accommodated in the proposed delimitations before the next general elections.
PPP’s Sindh chapter complains that the presidential aide and the federal minister had ignored their party’s interests while negotiating with the MQM.
The PPP will reconstitute the legal committee which will negotiate with other stakeholders in Sindh the proposed amendments in the local government order before tabling it in the provincial assembly. Owing to strong reservation within the Pakistan Peoples Party, the presidential aide is likely to be dropped from the committee.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 17th, 2011.
The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) have agreed on a new power-sharing formula whereby amendments will be made to the local government system of 2001.
In a meeting in the Presidency on Tuesday night, Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad discussed the contours of the new alignment and MQM’s possible return to the PPP-led ruling coalition. Following the deal, the MQM is likely to rejoin the government in the next few days, sources told The Express Tribune.
PPP’s Sindh chapter wants to amend the LG system 2001 which was reintroduced in the province on the MQM demand in place of the local government system of 1979 that the provincial government had approved after the MQM pulled out of the coalition in June.
“PPP’s Sindh chapter doesn’t want a certain aide of President Zardari to be part of the (legal) committee. It also wants to restrict the role of a federal minister in the affairs of Sindh. We have to work out necessary amendments before a bill is tabled in the provincial assembly,” a PPP leader who attended the meeting told The Express Tribune.
The meeting also discussed the empowerment of law-enforcement agencies to maintain peace in the province. The MQM has been demanding the home ministry in the provincial cabinet besides assurances that it would be accommodated in the proposed delimitations before the next general elections.
PPP’s Sindh chapter complains that the presidential aide and the federal minister had ignored their party’s interests while negotiating with the MQM.
The PPP will reconstitute the legal committee which will negotiate with other stakeholders in Sindh the proposed amendments in the local government order before tabling it in the provincial assembly. Owing to strong reservation within the Pakistan Peoples Party, the presidential aide is likely to be dropped from the committee.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 17th, 2011.