Zardari to meet Altaf on LG Ord deadlock

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman President Asif Ali Zardari is likely to hold a crucial meeting with Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain to woo his support for a review of the Sindh People’s Local Government Ordinance (SPLGO) 2012, as the ordinance has become a bone of contention between the two coalition partners with other coalition parties and Sindhi nationalists opposing it strongly.
A source in the ruling party, requesting not to be named, said communication was going on between both parties and there were strong chances of a meeting between leaders of both. “Initial contacts have been positive and if things remained constructive, the president is likely to meet Altaf Hussain in London to finalize things. This is the reason the president has not made his traveling schedule public,” the source said. He said during the meeting, the president would persuade Altaf to agree to some changes in the ordinance, as the PPP was facing strong criticism in interior Sindh over the ordinance from Sindhi nationalists. The source said the PPP was already facing a tough time in interior Sindh due to successive floods. President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar did not rule out the possibility of a meeting between both leaders, giving a tacit confirmation in this regard.
“There are no plans yet for a meeting between the president and Altaf,” he said. He said there was a strong possibility that the president would be able to convince Altaf on withdrawing the SPLGO and issuance of another ordinance acceptable to all coalition partners.
After hectic dialogue between the PPP and MQM leaders on September 13, the MQM had been successful in getting the SPLGO 2012 notified, but it attracted massive criticism from nationalist political parties of Sindh. Most of the PPP leaders from Sindh also oppose the ordinance. Following the notification, ministers of the PML-Q, ANP, PML-F and NPP had tendered resignations in protest. On Friday, the leaders submitted formal applications for allocations of seats on opposition benches. However, the resignations had no impact on the federal government and all coalition partners remain with the PPP, hinting that the resignations were being used as a pressure tactic to get the ordinance withdrawn, a situation unacceptable for MQM. Per the notification, five of the 23 districts of Sindh, including Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur and Larkana, were to be given the status of metropolitan corporations where mayors and deputy mayors would be appointed while, magistracy was to be implemented in the remaining 18.