KARACHI – Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza resigned on Wednesday, a day after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)’s two-day ultimatum to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government ended.
Official sources said President Asif Ali Zardari had advised Mirza to resign in an attempt to keep intact the PPP’s coalition with the MQM at a time when the government is already facing political and judicial problems. The resignation also came a day after a MQM-backed businessmen’s strike in Karachi.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah made the formal announcement of Mirza’s resignation at the oath-taking ceremony of Sharjeel Memon held at Governor House. He said, however, that Mirza had stepped down on medical grounds. “He was not feeling well and wanted to go on leave,” the chief minister told reporters.
Shah said he would handle Mirza’s portfolio now (which included that of Forests and Prisons) and also stated that his government would protect the businessmen from extortionists and resolve their problems with the support of its allies.
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad said businessmen were very disturbed because of criminals and the chief minister had issued stern orders to curb extortion. He said the chief minister himself would supervise action against such criminals.
Mirza told reporters at the ceremony that he had been under a lot of pressure for a long time but he had served as home minister with honesty. He said that he was leaving for the United States for medical treatment and would return when he felt better.
On the other hand, the official position of the MQM is that Mirza’s removal is an “internal matter” of the PPP. Sindh Information Technology Minister Raza Haroon, a MQM leader, told Pakistan Today that Mirza’s removal had nothing to do with any demands made by his party.
“Mirza’s removal is an internal matter of the PPP; we cannot dictate terms to them and they cannot do so either,” Haroon said. The MQM leader argued that all of the party’s disagreements were communicated to the PPP by democratic means. The MQM had given a two-day ultimatum to the government last Tuesday to act on increasing complaints of extortion from Karachi’s businessmen.
PPP sources said that the president could also “sacrifice” another close friend, Sindh Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani, to save the coalition because the MQM had been showing interest in the Local Government Ministry for a while. Mirza had become a controversial personality for his spats with the MQM in the last few months.
His “provocative” remarks made on various occasions had annoyed the MQM leadership, which had then demanded the PPP remove him. Mirza, however, had continued as home minister until now owing to strong support within the PPP, especially in Sindh. The MQM had strongly protested Mirza’s remarks in December last year where he had blamed the MQM for targeted killings in Karachi.
Later, in March this year, the MQM was offended once again when Mirza told a public meeting that the People’s Amn Committee – a group the MQM claimed was involved in criminal activities such as extortion – was an “integral part” of the PPP.
Mirza was hailed as a hero by PPP members in the Sindh Assembly when the MQM boycotted the assembly session. Earlier, as part of reconciliation efforts, Mirza also visited MQM headquarters Nine-Zero along with a PPP delegation and it was assumed that the animosity between the two parties had come to an end. It seems that way no more.
