Unethical practices should be considered unfair in politics too. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s offer to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) ministers that they should accept ministries in Sindh was perhaps delivered in jest. The PPP leader said MQM-P should join the provincial government and help PPP bring down the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government in the centre. The PPP did not do any follow-up on the offer, however, but MQM-P has seen a chance to exploit its senior coalition partners in the centre. After coming up with a guarded response that the core committee will decide on the offer, now Karachi Mayor and Deputy MQM-P Convener Wasim Akhtar says his party is ready to consider the demand – quitting the governing coalition – if the PPP removes their apprehensions. MQM-P has been part of several governments since 1988. Now, it has been offered a role to demolish a government – if MQM-P quits the coalition, PTI may not be able to complete the number required for maintaining a majority. Taking things further, the mayor said that they would like to see first if something is done (for them). “Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s political statement is not enough for this and that is why we have not rejected the offer,” he said. The party, however, did not elaborate. The main talking points can be local government powers, funds for Karachi and Hyderabad and ministries. The mayor seems to believe that a PPP-MQM-P coalition will best serve the interests of the province.
The recent development is enough to remind the federal government of its fragility. While PPP seemed happy enough with running the Sindh government till the next elections, the federal government’s actions – trying to create a forward bloc in the PPP and announcing pending arrests of Bilawal and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah – created uncertainty for the party, forcing it to adopt a collision course. A PPP-MQM-P alliance is a tried and tested experience, proving fatal for both sides. The unnatural alliance has never put any party at ease. In the 2008-2013 tenure, MQM-P, then ruled by the unpredictable Altaf Husain, would announce coming out of the government every other month, if not week. The best course, in the present situation, is to let both PTI and the PPP complete their terms in the centre and Sindh respectively. Meanwhile, the PPP and the MQM-P can build a working relationship for the best interest of the public. *