The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) does not seem fazed by the Awami National Party’s (ANP) decision to quit the Sindh government in protest against the newly introduced local government ordinance.
On Tuesday, Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel of the ANP admitted that though the government had contacted his party, it had not presented any “solid proposals” to resolve the issue.
“They did not take us into confidence when the ordinance was being framed and later promulgated. Hence, there is no point in holding discussions over the matter now. Our demand is still the same: withdrawal of the ordinance.”
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad promulgated the ordinance on September 7, ending the months-long deadlock between the PPP and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
The move, however, was greeted with derision by the ANP, which demanded its immediate reversal on the pretext that it stoked provincial division.
Though the ANP is no longer a part of the provincial government of Sindh, it still shares administration powers with the ruling party in the federal and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governments.
Adeel said his party had not yet thought of taking the “extreme step” of quitting the coalition altogether.
He added his party had taken the decision of not entering into an electoral alliance with the PPP in Sindh and it was now up to the ruling party to either try to win back its ally or leave it disgruntled.
“The ball is in their (PPP) court.”
Talking about his party’s decision to boycott National Assembly proceedings because of the same issue, Adeel said: “We have boycotted the lower house sessions in protest and will continue to do so until our demands are met.”
He added that the party will not support the government’s move to put forward proposals for any new critical legislation during sessions held in the ANP’s absence.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 12th, 2012.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ