The party’s downhill ride
While the official text of the Sindh People’s Local Government Ordinance (SPLGO) yet to be made publicly, it has already become an albatross around the PPP’s neck. It is widely understood that the Ordinance envisages the Musharraf era system in five urban centers of Sindh including Karachi, and the older Commissionerate system for the rest of Sindh. The proposed law fulfils MQM’s dreams by providing it control over cities generating most of the province’s revenue. It is however being widely opposed in the interior of Sindh where it is rightly seen as a step towards the division of the province which would perpetuate backwardness in its rural belt. An alliance of the nationalist groups closed down the interior Sindh against the Ordinance on September 13 and hopes to do so today. What must be worrying the PPP however is that groups with electable candidates, which were till recently a part of the PPP-led coalition, have already resigned as a protest against the Ordinance. If the standoff with the PPP was to continue the nationalists and these groups might decide to forge alliance with another mainstream party, posing a challenge to the PPP in its traditional stronghold. Another source of worry for the PPP leadership is the bickering in its ranks on the issue which is finding public expression in defiance of party discipline.
The unexpected opposition from Sindh, hitherto treated by PPP leaders as a fief, has led the party to have second thoughts on the Ordinance. Chandio’s remark that the Ordinance was not a final document as it was yet to be approved by the Sindh Assembly is an indicator of double-mindedness. Statements of the sort are enough to raise hackles in the MQM quarters. Some in the party have begun to believe that the MQM is being led down the garden path by Zardari. What must have sent alarm bells ringing at MQM’s London HQs was the call made by Zardari on MQM baiter Zulfiqar Mirza last week. In an ultimatum issued by the Rabita Committee, the MQM has warned the PPP government to meet its demands within three days or it would be sitting on the opposition benches.
The PPP is in a quandary. If it continues to support the SPLGO, it will alienate many in Sindh, thus allowing parties like the PML-N and PTI to make inroads in its erstwhile secure constituency. The signals from the ANP which is currently boycotting the parliamentary sittings in protest are not encouraging either. In case the MQM bids farewell to PPP, the later will be increasingly dependent on the PML-Q and pay the price for that. Whatever decision the PPP takes, one thing is sure: the party can no more sit between two benches.