‘PPP not worried about its power in Sindh’
MQM ponders over breaking alliance in the provincial government as well.
KARACHI:
After the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) parted ways with the federal government, the next step, according to its leadership, might be a similar decision in Sindh, where they are also in coalition with the ruling party.
The MQM is serious when it says it wants to resolve public issues, said the MQM deputy parliamentary leader in the National Assemby, Haider Abbas Rizvi. Sitting on the opposition beaches was the second step, following the resignation of their ministers. Now they are considering that the third step might be breaking their alliance with the PPP government in Sindh, he said. Political analysts say their resignation in Sindh will make no difference, since out of the total 169 members of the house, the MQM has only 51 seats.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has 93 members, sufficient for a simple majority. Its other coalition partners include the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), which has eight seats, the National Peoples’ Party that has three and the Awami National Party (ANP) which has two seats. Meanwhile, among the 11 members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), a few members are willing to support the PPP for “the sake of democracy”.
The PPP is willing to accept most of MQM’s demands because running the district administrations, especially in Karachi and Hyderabad, will be difficult if the parties are confronting one another. “After withdrawing its support from the federal and provincial governments, the party [MQM] has to ask the governor to tender his resignation. Besides, administrators in different towns have been appointed under a mutual understanding,” said Tauseef Ahmed, an analyst and former chairman of the mass communication department in the Federal Urdu University. According to him, if the MQM was to join the opposition, the law and order situation in the city would deteriorate drastically. Moreover, student clashes in educational institutions would increase. Management of KBCA and the water board will also become a problem.
The PPP might not require any party’s support in the number game but they need MQM to help them run the government here, Ahmed added.
The PPP, however, seems less than worried. Talking to The Express Tribune, senior PPP leader Taj Haider said that the decision to part ways with the government is an attempt to destabilise the democratic government.
But PPP has already calculated how it will save democracy, he said confidently. He ruled out speculations that the president wanted to remove the prime minister and that the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazlur Rehman’s demand was linked to it. “The prime minister has the full support of our party and no one opposes him,” he said. When asked about the recent meeting of the prime minister with leaders of PML-Q, whom they used to call the “Qaatil League”, he responded that anything is possible to save democracy.
On the other hand, a senior PPP leader, who requested anonymity, said, “If Muttahida is really sincere about breaking away because of inflation and petroleum price hikes, then why does the Sindh governor not resign?” He said that it is nothing else but tactics to put pressure on the PPP to meet its demands, which include freeing MQM workers who have been arrested for alleged involvement in target killings, restoring the local government system and handing over of hundreds of acres of land off the Super Highway to the district government. “If the commissioner system is restored and the five defunct districts are reinstated then MQM will be confined to the central district and the PPP will get votes in Malir, Gadap, South and East zones,” he said, explaining why the MQM was opposed to the commissioner system.
Rizvi, however, has denied these allegations and said that his party broke away from the coalition simply in the public interest.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2011.
After the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) parted ways with the federal government, the next step, according to its leadership, might be a similar decision in Sindh, where they are also in coalition with the ruling party.
The MQM is serious when it says it wants to resolve public issues, said the MQM deputy parliamentary leader in the National Assemby, Haider Abbas Rizvi. Sitting on the opposition beaches was the second step, following the resignation of their ministers. Now they are considering that the third step might be breaking their alliance with the PPP government in Sindh, he said. Political analysts say their resignation in Sindh will make no difference, since out of the total 169 members of the house, the MQM has only 51 seats.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has 93 members, sufficient for a simple majority. Its other coalition partners include the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), which has eight seats, the National Peoples’ Party that has three and the Awami National Party (ANP) which has two seats. Meanwhile, among the 11 members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), a few members are willing to support the PPP for “the sake of democracy”.
The PPP is willing to accept most of MQM’s demands because running the district administrations, especially in Karachi and Hyderabad, will be difficult if the parties are confronting one another. “After withdrawing its support from the federal and provincial governments, the party [MQM] has to ask the governor to tender his resignation. Besides, administrators in different towns have been appointed under a mutual understanding,” said Tauseef Ahmed, an analyst and former chairman of the mass communication department in the Federal Urdu University. According to him, if the MQM was to join the opposition, the law and order situation in the city would deteriorate drastically. Moreover, student clashes in educational institutions would increase. Management of KBCA and the water board will also become a problem.
The PPP might not require any party’s support in the number game but they need MQM to help them run the government here, Ahmed added.
The PPP, however, seems less than worried. Talking to The Express Tribune, senior PPP leader Taj Haider said that the decision to part ways with the government is an attempt to destabilise the democratic government.
But PPP has already calculated how it will save democracy, he said confidently. He ruled out speculations that the president wanted to remove the prime minister and that the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazlur Rehman’s demand was linked to it. “The prime minister has the full support of our party and no one opposes him,” he said. When asked about the recent meeting of the prime minister with leaders of PML-Q, whom they used to call the “Qaatil League”, he responded that anything is possible to save democracy.
On the other hand, a senior PPP leader, who requested anonymity, said, “If Muttahida is really sincere about breaking away because of inflation and petroleum price hikes, then why does the Sindh governor not resign?” He said that it is nothing else but tactics to put pressure on the PPP to meet its demands, which include freeing MQM workers who have been arrested for alleged involvement in target killings, restoring the local government system and handing over of hundreds of acres of land off the Super Highway to the district government. “If the commissioner system is restored and the five defunct districts are reinstated then MQM will be confined to the central district and the PPP will get votes in Malir, Gadap, South and East zones,” he said, explaining why the MQM was opposed to the commissioner system.
Rizvi, however, has denied these allegations and said that his party broke away from the coalition simply in the public interest.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2011.