Expected results, uncertain future
No surprises, really, in the Sindh mayoral elections, despite the drama over the two days that preceded the poll. MQM has displayed electoral tenacity throughout the operation, and the mayoral elections were no different. MQM took Karachi and Hyderabad, while PPP swept the interior. Interestingly, election day went with very little, if any, mention of the MQM power tussle that was all the rage just a day before. That is a good sign for a city in desperate need of getting on with business.
Yet as straightforward as the vote was, running the province, especially its capital, will be anything but routine in the present setting. That Waseem Akhtar was promptly returned to his jail cell after the victory speech speaks volumes about the many power struggles that still litter the landscape. And while the efficiency of a mayor running office from inside prison, via video link, remains to be seen, charges against Akhtar must still be investigated and the case pursued to its logical end. He was, after all, Sindh home minister when the May12 incident took place, which means he must still answer of security in the province in that time.
Other than the jail handicap, Akhtar spelled out just how the government machinery must be run from now. There must be close coordination among all important offices in the province; starting with the chief minister and incorporating important security and administrative executives. Democrats, so far, have rightly been accused of ignoring the importance of democracy at the grassroots. The local body elections were virtually forced upon the government by the Supreme Court. Going forward, this system must be preserved and strengthened. The people of Sindh have not generally benefitted from democracy anymore than the days of authoritarianism. Unless the LG system delivers, political parties will feel the heat in the not too distant future.
