In an effort to resolve the issue, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali held a series of meetings with the coalition partners and members of the Pakistan Peoples Party to try and get them to avoid such a sensitive issue as it could create more differences between them.
Despite his best attempts, the leaders of the National Peoples Party (NPP) refused to withdraw their resolution. A source in the PPP told The Express Tribune, said that the PPP and MQM had decided to move a joint resolution which means that it could counter the pending requisition tabled by the Jatoi brothers. The source added that they would talk against the division of Sindh without mentioning Article 239 (4), which says that they need the provincial government’s consent to make new provinces.
A PPP member said that the MQM wanted to delete or amend the article in a way that the power to create new provinces would reside with parliament. A parliamentary meeting of the party is set to take place before the assembly session today.
On Tuesday, party members including Humera Alwani, Agha Taimour Pathan, Shama Mithani, Imran Zaffar Leghari, Rai Naz Bozdar and Haji Munawar Ali Abbasi met Shah. He asked them why they signed the resolution tabled by the Jatoi brothers and said that it was party policy to inquire.
Some of the members responded and said that there was no clear policy on the issue while others said that they supported the issue because it was against the division of Sindh.
According to a source, housing minister, Agha Taimoor Talpur, had said that the assembly speaker had declared it was an important resolution while the law minister had promised to take it up next so they had no choice but to sign.
Abbasi defended the government’s policy and said that it was an important issue and he still supported it. He added that the speaker had not refused to take up the issue but had asked the Jatoi brothers to let him complete the agenda first. “I do not know why the NPP leaders boycotted the session,” he said.
But senior member of the party Haji Munwar Ali Abbasi defended the government policy. “It is a very important resolution and being a signatory I still support its content,” he said. “Every member has a democratic right to choose or reject something but we normally follow the party policy.”
Besides the NPP, members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Awami National Party have said that they will raise the issue in the assembly to take up the pending resolution. PML-F’s Jam Madad Ali said that right now they were sitting on the treasury benches but would take a decision in favour of Sindh.
While talking to The Express Tribune, MQM’s Faisal Subzwari said that everyone had the right to bring a resolution but the MQM was not against Sindh. When asked about the joint resolution being moved by the PPP and MQM, he said that they had submitted it to strengthen the unity and solidarity between the people.
Backbiting
Although the PPP was busy with the resolution, they have also decided to lodge a complaint with PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat for the comments made about their leader Qaim Ali Shah, the chief minister, by the PML-Q’s Shaharyar Mahar. While talking to the media after a session, Shaharyar Mahar had referred to Shah as a joker reading out jokes from a book.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 26th, 2012.
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