From treasury benches to opposition benches
The MQM, unlike country’s other mainstream political parties, does not have a foothold in any province. PPP has Sindh and a considerable portion of Punjab, PML-N has Punjab and ANP holds sway in KP, but MQM, limited only to Karachi and Hyderabad, seems to have been unable in making inroads in country’s mainstream politics. Yet it has always been able to find a way into every government because of its overwhelming clout in the financial capital of the country. However, this habit of being in power does not come without its pitfalls. Being a smaller party, it has to struggle more than the others to prove its worth; this despite coalitions and political bonding not being its forte.
To maintain its existence, the MQM has to make decisions that are mostly seen skeptically, and termed opportunist sometimes. The MQM-PPP marriage of necessity, which lasted for almost five years, has unraveled as the former has announced leaving the coalition government to sit on the opposition benches in the Sindh government. It may be a calculated election move but most are unwilling to see it that way. The PML-F, the opposition in the Sindh assembly for the past five years, says that it smell a conspiracy in this move. PML-N’s Nisar Ali Khan has also said the same. They claim that it is a move by the MQM to have a caretaker CM of their choice. To them the MQM doesn’t seem to like the idea of letting go of power even in a transition period.
However, the PML-F is not against a joint opposition against the PPP provided the MQM scraps local bodies law, its governor Ishatul Ebad resigns and it accepts Nusrat Sehar Abbasi of PML-F as the leader of the opposition. These demands don’t appear to be asking too much though how the MQM will respond is yet to be seen. Even if the MQM has genuine reasons to quit treasury benches and join opposition benches, its track record of flip-flopping makes it less credible. The ball is in its court to prove its intentions.
