Lobbying underway for Sindh’s incoming govt

Influential members of the PPP are moving at a brisk pace to pick the new Chief Minister and his or her cabinet

KARACHI:

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is all set to form another government in Sindh, after nearly sweeping the entire province electorally on day of the general election, which resulted in a thumping majority for the party.

With this huge win under its belt, the PPP’s leadership now faces the seemingly tough task of which individuals from the party gets to head the province and who will accompany the individual as part of the provincial cabinet. In this regard, Senator Taj Haider, in an exclusive telephonic conversation with the Express Tribune, after attending the PPP’s Central Executive Committee meeting held in Islamabad, informed that the party had not taken any decisions as of yet. “PPP has not made any decision regarding who will be in government in Sindh. This decision will be taken after the ongoing consultation process regarding formation of government in the centre is complete,” said the Senator.

Nevertheless, as per multiple sources within the PPP, who spoke with the Express Tribune under the condition of anonymity, influential people with the party are active in Sindh for the formation of a government in the province and are actively lobbying for the future Chief Minister of Sindh and his or her provincial cabinet. Moreover, the Express Tribune learnt that in this regard once particular lobby, which has successfully placed 7 out of 12 people in the top slot of the province is highly active and former chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah’s name is gaining prominence.

As far as the provincial cabinet is concerned, party insides informed that if Syed Murad Ali Shah becomes the Chief Minister again, there will be some old faces in his cabinet, like Sharjeel Inam Memon, Syed Sardar Shah, Mukesh Kumar Chawla, Azra Fazal Pechuho, and Sajid Jokhio. However, the Express Tribune was told that efforts will also be made to give a share to members of influential political families who joined the party prior to the general election, such as the Mehar Family of Shikarpur and the Mehar Sardars of Ghotki. 

In this regard, senior political analyst, Qazi Asif, was of the view that those who joined PPP recently will definitely demand inclusion in the provincial cabinet but might be subjected to constitutional restrictions. “According to the 18th amendment to the country’s constitution, the provincial government cannot have more than 11 per cent of the total members of the assembly as ministers. This means that Sindh’s cabinet can have a maximum of 18 ministers,” explained Asif.

Sources within the PPP are aware of the constitutional bar; nevertheless informed the Express Tribune that the Chief Minister had the power to appoint assistants and special assistants apart from ministers, so other aspirants would likely be adjusted in such positions.

Be that as it may, some political observers feel that the PPP’s priority should not be to keep political families and Members of the Sindh Assembly happy because the people have voted for it to solve their problems and thus welfare of the people should be its first priority.

In this regard, Sohail Sangi, opined that the incoming PPP government will have to pay special attention to ministries such as transport and public health this time. “It is crucial to solve the problems of drinking water and sewage and public health in the province, therefore, the PPP has to give more importance to these ministers. Similarly, the transport ministry will also need special attention because transport is one of the major problems in many cities of Sindh including Karachi,” asserted Sangi while talking to The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th 2024.