PPP and MQM seal the deal

In a major development likely to bring the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) back into the coalition government, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and its estranged ally late on Saturday agreed to restore the 2001 Local Government Ordinance in Karachi and Hyderabad, besides implementing the Police Order 2002, across Sindh.
Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad signed the ordinance after four back-to-back meetings with the PPP delegation led by former law minister Babar Awan. Following the decision, commissioners and deputy commissioners in Karachi and Hyderabad will be replaced by district coordination officers.
The MQM also announced to withdraw all the petitions it had filed in courts against the imposition of the magistracy system in Sindh. The two parties also announced to restore the districts status of Tando Muhammad Khan, Matyari and Tando Allah Yar. The decisions came as another 10 people were killed in violence across Karachi. The first round of the PPP–MQM meetings was held between Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Governor Ishratul Ebad and Babar Awan. Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Sindh Law Secretary Ghulam Nabi Shah joined the deliberations in the second round of talks. Agha Siraj Durrani, the provincial minister for local government, was also present.
Babar Awan told reporters after the meeting that some other decisions had also been made that would come to the foray by Eidul Fitr.
During the meeting, Governor Ebad telephoned President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and took them into confidence over the proposals agreed in the meeting. Per the proposal, district municipal corporations (DMCs) in Karachi will be abolished and the city’s 18 towns will be restored and distributed among five districts of Karachi.
Sources said both parties principally agreed to make changes to the local bodies system in the first round of talks. They said the system planned for Karachi would differ from those to be imposed in other divisions and districts of Sindh. Commissioners and deputy commissioners would report to the mayor and district chairman i.e. the district nazim, while the 18 towns of Karachi would be restored to their original status. District councils would exist, but would work under KMC and the mayor, they added.
Shaheed Benazirabad district has been attached with Hyderabad division and a notification in this regard has been issued by the Sindh government. However, a final decision on the negotiation will be made on Monday in a meeting chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad.
Sources said both the PPP and MQM had come close to reaching an understanding and the MQM might rejoin the PPP-led federal and provincial governments soon. The governments in Sindh and at the Centre have still not accepted the resignations of MQM ministers, who would simply have to resume office once an understanding is reached. However, some MQM portfolios in the Sindh government were handed over to PML-Q and PML-F leaders and a change of portfolio might be on the cards again.