PPP and ANP: a love affair breathing its last

The gap between the Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has suddenly widened, as the ANP has decided to approach the Supreme Court against the Sindh government over its failure to control law and order in the country’s financial capital, Pakistan Today learnt on Wednesday.
Sources told Pakistan Today that after pulling out of the ruling coalition in Sindh, the ANP had decided to adopt a hostile policy towards the PPP-led provincial government, of which the Muttahida Qaumi Movement is a major stakeholder.
The ANP is not only considering the recent passage of the local bodies ordinance from the Sindh Assembly as a heartbreaking betrayal from the PPP, it also has other reservations, especially those related to the law and order in Karachi.
A source in the ANP said the party leadership had decided to drag the PPP to the Supreme Court, following which it would file a petition in the apex court against the Sindh government for contempt of court for not implementing the decisions of the apex court.
The application would be filed by Senator Shahi Syed, ANP Sindh president, through eminent lawman Syed Iftikhar Gillani in the coming week. Under the petition, the ANP would adopt the stance that despite directive and clear directions by the SC during the hearing of the suo motu case on Karachi violence, the provincial government had wasted almost a year and failed to adopt any sufficient measures to halt the bloodshed that has claimed hundreds of lives so far, a clear contempt of court.
The apex court wrapped up the proceedings in remarkably short order on September 14 last year, concluding the case after only 10 days of hearing at the Karachi Registry of the Supreme Court. It asked Advocate General Abdul Fattah Malik to submit a daily report to Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany on the cases and issued directions to improve the law and order in the city.
The ANP top brass is also considering walking away from the ruling PPP coalition before the next election and has decided not to contest the coming polls in coalition with the PPP.
The sources said backdoor negotiations between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and ANP were underway smoothly and several things had been finalised that may result in an ANP-PML-N coalition in the coming polls, however, some points were yet to be finalised.