PPP, MQM failure to reach accord a bad omen

THE much debated and talked about power-sharing deal in Sindh between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is over at least for the time being.
The MQM has finally decided that it cannot be part of a coalition government and preferred to sit on the opposition benches.
Its decision is seen by many as not a good omen for the country’s commercial hub and main contributor to the national exchequer considering the past record of hostilities between the two parties.
The announcement ended weeks of speculation on the state of PPP-MQM relations and once again raised the spectre of uneasy political uncertainty and possible violence in coming days.
The breakdown in the talks is seen by all political analysts as a major blow to the efforts of PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to form a government of national consensus in all the four provinces as well as at the Centre. It also seems that Zardari’s visit to Nine-Zero failed to achieve the objectives.
Apprehensions are not unfounded that the failure to reach an agreement on power-sharing between PPP and MQM could eventually lead to renewal of violence in Karachi and other urban areas of Sindh.
MQM’s decision came after a deadlock in talks and appointment of Dr Shoaib Suddle as provincial police chief as well as other controversial police officers was termed last straw that led to the complete breakdown of talks.
Dr Suddle, no doubt a controversial figure to say the least, has been blamed by many for multiple murders of MQM’s activists carried out by the Sindh police when he was the DIG of Karachi in the mid-1990s, during the second tenure of Benazir Bhutto as prime minister.
Besides MQM, PPP-SB headed by Ghinwa Bhutto, some of the country’s best known lawyers and members of the civil society have also denounced the appointment of the same team of police officials that was allegedly involved in the murder of Mir Murtaza Bhutto. Dr Suddle was one of the accused in the murder of Murtaza Bhutto and six other men. However, reports emanating from PPP sources claim that the main reason behind MQM’s decision to stay out of power-sharing is its demand for certain ministries that was strongly opposed by PPP hawks.
Majority of Sindh PPP leaders are convinced that the MQM is trying to blackmail the PPP by using the Karachi card and that the PPP should resist it at all costs.
MQM, they argued, should only be accommodated on ‘our terms’ as the party does not need MQM’s support to run the province.
MQM on the other hand also questioned the sincerity of PPP in the talks and described its attitude ‘non-serious’, a charge denied by PPP leaders who said the party would re-continue the reconciliation process through the top leadership of two parties.
While both parties have failed to work out a formula to share power, there is still time for saner elements both in the PPP and the MQM to realise the gravity of the situation and try to mend fences leaving aside their differences as millions of residents of this province need a stable government that could provide them basic necessities of life.