Though Ebad had resigned and left the country for Dubai, President Asif Zardari had not accepted his resignation as behind-the-scenes contacts had been initiated to bring the estranged ally of the government back into the coalition. Ebad was expected to reach Karachi early on Tuesday on board a special aircraft sent by the president. The resignations of the MQM’s federal and provincial ministers have also not been accepted so far.
In a statement issued from London, Hussain said: “Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan will resume the charge of his office as desired by the president.” This development took place following Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s visit to the MQM headquarters and President Zardari’s telephonic contact with Hussain. Hussain asked Ebad to work in harmony with the federal and provincial governments under the guidance of the president.
“The governor should ensure his effective contribution towards stability in the province and play his role to act as a bridge to build relationships,” the statement said. Wajahat Hussain, spokesmen for the Sindh governor, told Pakistan Today that Ebad’s resignation was not accepted by President Zardari. “He is returning tonight (Monday) to assume his responsibilities at Governor’s House. There is no need for any official ceremony for resuming the charge. He is the governor of Sindh,” said the spokesman.
ANP, PPP WELCOME: Awami National Party (ANP) Sindh welcomed Ebad’s return in a statement and termed it a big step towards restoration of peace in Karachi.
The ANP Sindh spokesman was optimistic that MQM’s ministers would also return to their offices because it was essential for peace in the city.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Sindh also welcomed Ebad’s return. PPP Sindh General Secretary Taj Haider told Pakistan Today it would have been better if MQM had not left the government in the first place. “There was no reason to quit the alliance with the PPP. We welcome him [back],” he said.
Within 20 days of quitting the coalition governments in the Centre and Sindh, the MQM, known for switching tracks faster than bullet trains, is also gearing up to rejoin the federal and Sindh governments after Ebad returns to his office. A source told Pakistan Today that the return of Ebad was only a confidence-building measure between the PPP and the MQM to accelerate reconciliation efforts, which was only possible because of an important part played by Shujaat.
“Although the PPP government is in a smooth position even without the MQM legislators and the treasury benches still have a clear majority in both Houses of parliament, President Asif Zardari is in no mood to give any opportunity to the PML-N to form an election alliance with any major political force and the dialogue with the MQM leadership reflects his political maturity,” the source said, adding that despite opposition by some party heavyweights, the president had tasked Shujaat with wooing back the MQM at all costs. Under the new understanding, he said, now delegations of both parties would have quiet meetings to resolve their differences. “After its show of force in most parts of Sindh, the MQM is now taking part in the dialogue from a position of strength and now it could get most of its demands implemented,” the source said.
The relationship between the MQM and the ruling PPP has not been as pleasant as the latter enjoys with other political allies because of the continued political somersaults from time to time by the second-tier leadership of the MQM, known as the party’s Coordination Committee. Soon after the general elections of February 18, 2008, the MQM, along with other political parties, gave its vote of confidence to the PPP’s Yousaf Raza Gilani for prime minister on March 24, 2008.
The first instance of serious differences between the two parties emerged soon afterwards when the PPP started reshuffling the bureaucracy appointed by former president Pervez Musharraf in April 2008 and named Shoaib Suddle the inspector general of Sindh Police. The MQM resisted initially and raised serious objections publicly against the appointment of Suddle, accusing him of extra-judicial killings in the Karachi operation against MQM workers. Though the leaders of both parties sorted things out for the time being, it laid the foundation of mistrust and paranoia that has since hurt the coalition throughout the following years.
The uneasy coalition partners again developed differences when the PPP government abolished Musharraf’s local bodies system in the country. The PPP-led government replaced the local bodies system with administrators owing to its political compulsions, whereas the MQM was in favour of retaining the district government system as it had provided the party - based largely in urban Sindh - an opportunity to accommodate large number of its workers to enhance their political influence, strengthening the party’s political clout in urban Sindh.
Issues such as the re-demarcation of constituencies and targeted killings also simmered at the base of the differences between the PPP and the MQM. The MQM had been wary of the PPP’s intentions as it saw the re-drawing of constituencies, also called the delimitation process, as a bid to turn the MQM’s majority into a minority in certain areas.
Conversely, the PPP leadership accused the MQM of being involved in targeted killings. But the differences were swept under the rug every time to save the coalition. The MQM also opposed the “black law” of the National Reconciliation Order (NRO) when the PPP-government was desperately trying to legalise corrupt practices committed by its leaders by making it a part of the constitution. The ordinance, issued by Musharraf, had withdrawn graft cases against various PPP leaders, including Zardari. Hussain, the chief of the MQM, had said that the NRO, being a “black law” based on political expediency and vested interests could not, be made part of the constitution.
The battle over the NRO was reflective of the fact that the two parties, despite being in the government, were at loggerheads with each other on a host of issues. Altaf started raising issues publicly for the first time to counter the PPP’s moves and said the national document, the constitution, must be saved from the NRO as it amounted to making corruption legal in the country. The issue of targeted killings resurfaced when former Sindh home minister Zulfiqar Mirza, a close confidant of President Zardari, accused the MQM of being involved in targeted killings. The MQM protested against the statement raised serious objections, also calling for Mirza’s removal.
The Coordination Committee of the MQM gave a 10-day deadline to the PPP government to resolve the issue. Delegations of MQM also met the prime minister and the president in this connection time and again, but to no avail. Initially it appeared that the coalition would survive, but the MQM resigned from the federal cabinet on December 27, 2010, but said it would sit on the treasury benches and support the government.
That decision was reversed by the Coordination Committee only after five days and the MQM decided to sit on the opposition benches, marking the complete departure of the MQM from the government, an exercise that was repeated this time and which seems to have hit its final notes today with the MQM’s return to the government.
