Sindh coalition: MQM welcomed on board

PPP leader says reconciliation is the solution to all political ills.

LAHORE:

Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Punjab chapter president Manzoor Wattoo on Tuesday welcomed the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) decision of joining the Sindh government.

In a statement, he said the MQM’s decision bodes well for Sindh in particular and the country in general. He said the development had also vindicated the PPP’s policy of reconciliation. He said the policy offered solution to all political ills of the country.

Without reconciliation, the political wheels move in opposite direction… causing chaos in the society.”



Wattoo said he was hopeful the two parties would work together to improve people’s standards of living in the province.

He said the MQM’s decision would help bring political stability to the province.

“It will help make Sindh a place of peace and tolerance.”

He said confrontation had always hurt the political process in the country.

“We should promote a culture of understanding and accommodation. Intransigence cuts into the vitals of the democratic dispensation and tends to divide the society.”

Wattoo said the PPP had also followed the policy of reconciliation during its term in federal governments.

“Its dividends are evident. The last government completed its tenure. It also transferred power to the new elected government for the first time in the country’s history,” he said.

He said the PPP government had always taken opposition on board while initiating any legislation.

“The 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st Amendments to the Constitution were brought unanimously despite the fact the Pakistan Peoples Party was heading a coalition government,” Wattoo said. He said the present government had been struggling to push through the Pakistan Protection Ordinance (PPO). He said it had not taken opposition on board.

He urged the government to avoid “solo flights”. Instead it should develop the knack for sharing the credit, he said.

“Democracy is a way of life based on taking all political forces along.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2014.