Coalition of convenience: MQM accepts PPP offer, joins Sindh govt
Rauf Siddiqui and Dr Sagheer Ahmed sworn in as provincial ministers.
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan administers oath to two newly inducted ministers of MQM. PHOTO: APP
KARACHI:
After a hiatus of 13 months, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) joined the Sindh government on Tuesday, becoming the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) coalition partner in the province for a second time.
Two MQM legislators, Rauf Siddiqui and Dr Sagheer Ahmed, were sworn in as provincial ministers, with Siddiqui taking charge as minister for industries and commerce, and Ahmed as minister for health at a ceremony at the Governor House Tuesday evening.
Faisal Sabzwari and Adil Siddiqui – who were respectively minister for youth affairs and minister of public health engineering during the previous coalition government – have been inducted into the Sindh cabinet as advisers. Abdul Haseeb has been also been included as special assistant to Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah.
The oath was administered by Governor Ishratul Ebad in the presence of the chief minister. Also at the ceremony were former interior minister Rehman Malik, Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, MQM MNA Farooq Sattar and deputy convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. Welcoming the MQM into the government, Chief Minister Shah said, “The PPP and the MQM have come close to each other once again. We have to work for people from Karachi to Kashmore and help the province to progress and develop.”
PPP leader and former interior minister Rehman Malik said the party’s decision bode well. “This is good news for the people of Sindh, and when the two parties are united, there is no clash amongst institutions,” he added.
Also speaking on the occasion, MQM leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that though the decision was a difficult one, it was taken at the right time. “From today, the government in Sindh will be a representative of the people living in both urban and rural areas,” he said. He added that the MQM and PPP will fight against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism in the province.
The MQM’s decision to join the Sindh government followed several weeks of discussions and negotiations with the PPP, and within the party itself. The MQM has not been handed portfolios such as the home ministry, finance, local bodies or planning and development ministries.
According to sources, the MQM delayed its decision to join the government as several leaders and party activists resisted the move. Last June, the party held a referendum for its workers to decide whether the MQM should join the government or not. Though the result of the referendum was not made public, more than 70 per cent reportedly opted against any coalition with the PPP.
The MQM was part of the PPP-led Sindh government from 2008 till 2013, but had pulled out from the coalition and subsequently reconciled with the party several times. In February 2013, the MQM quit the coalition for the last time before the general elections, when it accused the PPP of patronising the Peoples Amn Committee and supporting Lyari gangsters.
After the elections, the party turned down the PPP’s offer and chose to sit in opposition in the Sindh Assembly. At that time, the MQM leaders had said that they would ‘be able to serve the people’ in this way. The party claimed that it had carried the PPP’s weight in the past and were thus unable to initiate development in Karachi.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2014.
After a hiatus of 13 months, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) joined the Sindh government on Tuesday, becoming the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) coalition partner in the province for a second time.
Two MQM legislators, Rauf Siddiqui and Dr Sagheer Ahmed, were sworn in as provincial ministers, with Siddiqui taking charge as minister for industries and commerce, and Ahmed as minister for health at a ceremony at the Governor House Tuesday evening.
Faisal Sabzwari and Adil Siddiqui – who were respectively minister for youth affairs and minister of public health engineering during the previous coalition government – have been inducted into the Sindh cabinet as advisers. Abdul Haseeb has been also been included as special assistant to Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah.
The oath was administered by Governor Ishratul Ebad in the presence of the chief minister. Also at the ceremony were former interior minister Rehman Malik, Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, MQM MNA Farooq Sattar and deputy convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. Welcoming the MQM into the government, Chief Minister Shah said, “The PPP and the MQM have come close to each other once again. We have to work for people from Karachi to Kashmore and help the province to progress and develop.”
PPP leader and former interior minister Rehman Malik said the party’s decision bode well. “This is good news for the people of Sindh, and when the two parties are united, there is no clash amongst institutions,” he added.
Also speaking on the occasion, MQM leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that though the decision was a difficult one, it was taken at the right time. “From today, the government in Sindh will be a representative of the people living in both urban and rural areas,” he said. He added that the MQM and PPP will fight against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism in the province.
The MQM’s decision to join the Sindh government followed several weeks of discussions and negotiations with the PPP, and within the party itself. The MQM has not been handed portfolios such as the home ministry, finance, local bodies or planning and development ministries.
According to sources, the MQM delayed its decision to join the government as several leaders and party activists resisted the move. Last June, the party held a referendum for its workers to decide whether the MQM should join the government or not. Though the result of the referendum was not made public, more than 70 per cent reportedly opted against any coalition with the PPP.
The MQM was part of the PPP-led Sindh government from 2008 till 2013, but had pulled out from the coalition and subsequently reconciled with the party several times. In February 2013, the MQM quit the coalition for the last time before the general elections, when it accused the PPP of patronising the Peoples Amn Committee and supporting Lyari gangsters.
After the elections, the party turned down the PPP’s offer and chose to sit in opposition in the Sindh Assembly. At that time, the MQM leaders had said that they would ‘be able to serve the people’ in this way. The party claimed that it had carried the PPP’s weight in the past and were thus unable to initiate development in Karachi.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2014.