The nationalists will give PPP a run for its money
As expected the PPP leadership has yielded to the MQM’s pressure in Sindh. Two strikes within a fortnight in the interior of the province at the call of the nationalist parties failed to deter Zardari. The resignation from Sindh cabinet by ANP, NPP, PML-F and the Likeminded Group were ignored as if of no consequence. The PPP co-chairman also took no notice of the unrest brewing in the Sindh chapter of the party over the sensitive issue.
The ultimatum by the MQM on the other hand sent Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah rushing to the Governor’s House to seek the withdrawal of the threat. He was told plainly to get the Sindh People’s Local Government Ordinance (SPLGO) passed immediately. On Wednesday when Qaim Ali Shah made a second visit, he was again told that nothing could stop the MQM from sitting on the opposition benches other than a clear and unambiguous undertaking by none other than Zardari that the SPLGO would be urgently brought before the provincial assembly and approved. The message was conveyed there and then to the president in New York. Zardari readily expressed regrets over the delay and promised to get the agreement between the two parties implemented in letter and spirit within two weeks. Satisfied with the assurance, Altaf Hussain called on his party to withdraw the ultimatum.
Sindhi nationalists are right when they maintain that the SPLGO is the first major step towards the division of the province into a prosperous MQM controlled urban part and an underdeveloped rural hinterland which would henceforth be condemned to backwardness for lack of resources. The problem is that Sindh continues to be treated by the PPP leadership as a captive constituency. Thanks the feudal structure in the province, thousands upon thousands of rural families are dependent for their livelihood on feudal lords the majority of whom is with the PPP. The PPP leadership prospers on the dismal state of awareness expressing itself in blind devotion to the Shaheeds Bhutto and Benazir. Political programs matter little to them.
The PPP leadership is aware of this. It treats common Sindhi with condescension, doling out funds from Benazir Income Support Program as favors that feudal lords occasionally dispense to their subjects. Nothing is given as a right for in feudal societies the landlords’ dependents are not supposed to claim entitlements. Most PPP legislators in Sindh sell jobs and misappropriate funds meant for development or social relief. They believe they owe no obligation to their constituents and openly tell them that they had voted for Benazir and had thus done the parliamentarian no personal favor nor should expect any in return.
The PPP leadership treats its Sindhi critics with disdain. The attitude was expressed in Federal Minister Maula Bux Chandio’s remarks regarding the nationalists being a chattering class which has never won a seat in Sindh nor is capable of winning one in future. The same arrogance is reserved for the four former allies who now sit on the 20-odd opposition benches in the provincial assembly. With the PPP having won 91 seats and the MQM 51 in 2008 elections in Sindh, the party thinks it couldn’t care less for its erstwhile allies. They could stew in their own juice if they so desired.
Zardari knows there is strong opposition to the SPLGO within the PPP itself. Also that the provincial bigwigs are reluctant to defend the ordinance publicly He thinks that they need the party much more than the party needs them. So let them clamor as much as they like. It matters little to the party leadership if veterans, like PPP’s former deputy speaker and MNA Syed Zafar Ali Shah and MNA Nawab Yousaf Talpur, are becoming increasingly vocal. “Not a single party MNA has been taken into confidence nor their reservations over the local government ordinance been removed. This ordinance has already been rejected by the party’s leaders as well as the people of Sindh,” Zafar Ali Shah told Pakistan Today. He also said that on account of its strength in Sindh and National Assembly, the MQM was trying to bully the PPP over the LG system and it had been making efforts to do so since 2008. “They (MQM) have been making efforts to revive Musharraf’s local bodies system since 2008. Last year, they had also got released an ordinance but the people of Sindh had reacted and refused to make compromise on their rights.” Zardari thinks whatever the PPP mavericks say, they would not leave the party because if they do, they have no political future in the province.
What matters to Zardari is MQM. With ANP also finally displaying signs of disaffection, he believes there is all the more need to retain the support of the MQM irrespective of the price it demands. Unless the MQM is in the fold the federal government would be at the mercy of the PML-Q whose demands would be difficult to meet. Rule Pakistan, forget about Sindh which will follow PPP any way, goes the thinking.
The MQM wants to cash in on the situation. It is now or never for it. No party with roots outside Sindh could ever agree to do what the PPP is willing to i.e., the virtual partition of Sindh. The MQM has reasons to believe that its fortunes in elections depend on the immediate enforcement of the SPLGO. The party has done little for those who voted for it. Meanwhile, it faces challenges from PPP, PMLN, PTI, Jamaat-e-Islami and ANP in various constituencies in urban Sindh. Once the local government system is enforced, the party hopes to get Mayors of its own choice elected in Karachi, Hyderabad and Mirpur Khas. This would put billions of rupees at the party’s disposal along with thousands of employees and fleets of vehicles that it can use in the forthcoming general elections.
The battle in Sindh does not end with the PPP agreeing to implement the SPLGO. In fact the fight begins in good earnest now. The moment the announcement regarding the convening of the Sindh assembly session is made, the province will start resounding with drum beats and battle cries.
The nationalist may not be good at winning the elections. They are also divided on a number of issues and do not have the funds needed to win seats which cost tens of millions of rupees each. They have however proved themselves to be adept at launching protests and marches. They are capable of changing the public opinion albeit in years. The four allies who have resigned in protest against the SPLGO have sufficient funds to spend on constituencies other than the ones already in their possession. PML-N and PTI, the two mainstream parties, are looking for a foothold in the province. Both have announced support to the nationalists and opposed any attempt to bifurcate the province.
There is a likelihood of all these dissenting forces arraying themselves against the PPP-MQM coalition in days to come. What remains to be seen is whether they can release enough synergy to significantly weaken the PPP’s electoral hold in Sindh. In any case, if united they are capable of giving the PPP a run for its money.
The writer is a former academic and a political analyst.
Excellent and truly independent analysis by the writer without mincing words like many so called independent analysis do,
I agree with the writer that It is only the MQM which matters for Asif Zardari, The Sindh has always suffered at the hands of despots but has suffered even more in the so called PPP's democratic government which could never have been in office without solid votes from Sindhi masses.
Asif Zardari is running PPP exactly in the same way as his fascist buddy Altaf Hussain is running his MQM with iron grip. Asif Zardari is considering Sindh his own property and continues to buckle to unjust demands of blackmailer Altaf Hussain.
Altaf Hussain and his doppelgängers claim that their party is popular in all provinces of Pakistan and according to one of his disciples Altaf Hussain is loves by millions and millions all over the country but the fact is that MQM represents only a section of urdu speaking people in an area of Karachi. Karachi is not that is represented by only MQM as there are many other nationalities. More than 25 percent seats were taken by the MQM by applying strong arm tactics during last elections a fact which was corroborated by the UN observers.
MQM thrives on the blackmail, extortion and target killings which continue to occur without any action from the government and its law enforcement agencies due to disastrous policy of reconciliation adopted by the Caesar Asif Ali Zardari.
Asif Zardari is blinded by power and he thinks that he will get away with what he is doing to Sindh and Sindhis. He has alienated many leader with independent mind and is cocooned surrounded by opportunists like Rehman Malik. Babar Awan. Wajid Shamsul Hassan, Pir Mazhar and many others.
Excellent and truly independent analysis by the writer without mincing words like many so called independent analysis do.
I agree with the writer that It is only the MQM which matters most for Asif Zardari, The Sindh has always suffered at the hands of despots but has suffered even more in the so called PPP's democratic government which could never have been in office without solid votes from Sindhi masses.
Asif Zardari is running PPP exactly in the same way as his fascist buddy Altaf Hussain is running his MQM with iron grip. Asif Zardari is considering Sindh his own property and continues to buckle to unjust demands of blackmailer Altaf Hussain.
Altaf Hussain and his doppelgängers claim that their party is popular in all provinces of Pakistan and according to one of his disciples Altaf Hussain said in the past that Altaf Hussain was loved by millions and millions all over the country but the fact is that MQM represents only a section of urdu speaking people in an area of Karachi. Karachi is not that is represented by only MQM as there are many other nationalities. More than 25 percent seats were taken by the MQM by applying strong arm tactics during last elections a fact which was corroborated by the UN observers.
MQM thrives on the blackmail, extortion and target killings which continue to occur without any action from the government and its law enforcement agencies due to disastrous policy of reconciliation adopted by the Caesar Asif Ali Zardari.
Asif Zardari is blinded by power and he thinks that he will get away with what he is doing to Sindh and Sindhis. He has alienated many leaders with independent mind and is cocooned surrounded by opportunists like Rehman Malik. Babar Awan. Wajid Shamsul Hassan, Pir Mazhar and many others.
Our military controlled establishment always favored/favors Mafias and Feudal groups and always went against nationalist groups as they themselves want to play this role of nationalist to maintain power centered federation.
This policy is main reason of depoliticizing Pakistan from real political growth and strengthening military control over all departments.
Ayaz Palejo always say that they have united against the MQM and not the Mohajirs. The Mohajirs are brothers of the Sindhis. We are against those who conspire to divide Sindh. We respect the Urdu speaking people who have done so much good for Sindh and Pakistan. It is the MQM whose militant policy has brought havoc to Sindh.
As per record of history
In December 1947, 160 of the 300 members of the Muslim League were from minority provinces. In the working committee, 13 out of 23 members were Mohajirs. And that is the issue.
The latest Mohajir elite gathered by run away Altaf hussian first along with Musharraf then now with PPP leadership seem to have hijacked Sindhi politics. The other national groupsfelt deprived. This is how modern Sindhi ethnic politics began."
hey you r just a PMLN worker, the party responsible for start of economic destruction of Pakistan during 199-1993 becoz of its imprudent policies: motorway scandal, yellowcabs scandal which resulted in depletion of forex reserves in 1993 and destruction of automobile industry(only to be revived during Musharaf period and during this govt). Then PMLN govt froze all forex accounts in 1998. Now mammoth corruption in Punjab. God save us from PMLN govt.
as you diverted the topic without seeing to line of discussion .I hardly admire bald brothers of Punjab any how the reality is like that
The Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) is currently the most popular party in the country, a survey has shown.
The survey carried out by the International Republican Institute (IRI) posed the question that if the elections for the National Assembly were to be held next week, who were the respondents most likely to vote for. The results revealed a 3.7 per cent increment in PML-N’s popularity and a shocking 22.6% decline in PTI’s vote bank.
Conducted between July and August 2012 from a pool of 6,001 respondents, the survey compared results from an earlier survey carried out in February 2012.
According to the IRI survey, 28 per cent of the respondents agreed to vote for PML-N, closely followed by PTI at 24 per cent. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) took the third spot with 14 per cent votes whereas Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) polled 3 per cent.
The nationalists failed to see how the commissionerate system has failed them in rural Sindh and how local bodies would have helped them self rule rural Sindh had they not opposed the earlier Local Bodies ordinance tooth and nail.
Their opposition comes from a self perpetuated opposition for MQM rather than interests of rural Sindh
Sindhis are being pushed to the wall by Asif Zardari. During his tenure his energies have been devoted to keep his buddy Altaf Hussain who looks his twin in the coalition. May be Altaf who is a blackmailer par excellence has some secrets relating to imbecile Zardari which makes him to capitulate before Altaf. The other reason may be that Asif Zardari is coward of highest order. However, he is very abrupt, rude and degrading to Sindhi leadership while he is docile and at ease with MQM leaders.
Sindhis have suffered the most at the hands of their government. The ministers are corrupt and pygmies like Sharjeel is arch spokesman of Ppp in Sindh.
It is really a tragedy for Sindh that Sindhis have been sidelined by their own government.
Asif Zardari should come into senses and the magnanimity with which he is rewarding MQM has gone far beyond the imagination of Sindhis. Asif Zardari should realise that Sindh is not Bambino Cinema which could be sold to Altaf Hussain.
Altaf Hussain preaches some thing practices some thing else. He has delivered his speech a couple of days ago appealing people to remain peaceful and desist from killing others but he can not fool the world that he has unleashed his dogs who are killing innocents every day. Mr Asif Zardari is prepared to forgive and forget whatever MQM is doing to please some quarters in the west.
Asif Zardari is apparently known well for his 'magnanimity'. Asif Zardari should spare Sindh and should not give as a gift to Altaf Hussain.
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