PPP-MQM row: Is this the beginning of the end?

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Rana Qaisar
ISLAMABAD: The swords are drawn and the sabre-rattling between the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in an already charged environment may take them to a point where the fragile political dispensation in the country would suffer an unbearable jolt and break the coalition of the strange bedfellows.

Though the reports of differences between the PPP and the MQM have been appearing in media for quite some time, Dr Zulfiqar Mirza finally blasted the MQM for having “fraudulently” quashed 3,500 criminal cases against its top leaders and workers under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Dr Mirza, who is a close aide of President Asif Ali Zardari and also holds the office of Sindh home minister, also asked the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of this illegal act (of the MQM) and order reopening of all criminal cases closed under the NRO.

He also accused the MQM of playing in the hands of the establishment. This is a serious assertion and clearly suggests that the PPP leadership is convinced that the establishment has started working on a political change in the country and the MQM’s differences with the PPP – on the Kerry-Lugar legislation, the NRO or the election in Gilgit-Baltistan – are not without purpose.

Historically, no coalition arrangement with the MQM has ever been easy-going. The MQM always parted ways with its partners whenever the political system in the country came under threat. It was only during the previous regime (2002-07) that the MQM remained part of a dispensation for five years but that too, ironically, under a military dictator. Even during those five years, the MQM’s conduct with its political partners had throughout been confrontational, though it was more than congenial with General ® Pervez Musharraf.

President Zardari understandably faces a difficult situation. While the inability of the PPP government to handle national issues, the charges of corruption against his friends, the moral questions being raised over his “NRO-delivered” presidency, the controversy over the Kerry-Lugar law and the army’s reaction to it, the increasing acrimony with the PML-N and the political pressure on him to surrender powers to parliament had already started ringing alarm bells in the corridors of power, the tension with the MQM to the extent of “enough is enough” seems to be pushing Zardari to a remote corner of the already bunkered President House.

The president has started a series of consultations with people from different walks of life including “top” media personalities. Those who meet him say that the president is comfortable as he believes that he cannot be constitutionally removed from office. The only constitutional way is to impeach him. Maybe this was his assessment as he had probably thought and was convinced as well that the MQM would not betray him. However, an apparent go-ahead to Dr Mirza to hit the MQM hard shows that he has lost trust in his ally.

The impeachment of the president had appeared impossible when the MQM, ANP, JUI-F and the parliamentarians from FATA were on his side of the fence. Even if the PPP’s partnership with the MQM comes to an end, Zardari’s impeachment would not be possible until the ANP and JUI-F also decide to remove the president and save the political system, which the PML-N and the PML-Q also do not want to rock.

Though the government has already decided not to legislate on the NRO, the political situation is expected to heat up after the November 28 (tomorrow) cut-off date set by the Supreme Court.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_22