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Summary It is yet unclear what system of governance Sindh would have as consensus eludes PPP and MQM.
The leaders of PPP and MQM have failed to reach a final decision on what form of local government the province would get.Addressing a news conference after their rounds of deliberation Saturday, leaders from both parties couldn’t clearly spell out whether the Commissionerate System or the Local Government (LG) system would be enforced.Talking to the media at the Chief Minister’s House, PPP leader Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq was asked what system would be in place, but he chose to skirt the question. Pir only said all decisions would be made as per law.MQM leader Dr Sagheer Ahmed however said the Commissionerate system was not an issue of pride for his party, adding that the MQM would not take any step which would destabilise the country.The Local Government Ordinance re-promulgated by the Sindh Governor expired midnight Friday.PPP wants to restore commissionerate system while MQM is desirous for bringing back of Nazims in Sindh province.The leadership of MQM and PPP invited the media at Chief Minister’s House to announce their accord regarding local bodies system in the province but the bitter questions form the journalists unearthed their differences as leaders of both parties could not respond them properly.On the occasion, Senior Sindh Minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq, Agha Siraj Durrani, Rashid Rabbani, Ayaz Soomro, Member of Rabita Committee MQM Dr Saghir Ahmed, Syed Sardar Ahmed, Raza Haroon, Kunwar Naveed, Waseem Akhtar and Wasih Jalil were present while Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah and PPP senior leader Syed Khurshid Shah addressed the news conference telephonically from Saudi Arabia.While addressing the conference, the Chief Minister Sindh said that the matter has been resolved amicably through the wisdom and vision of President Asif Zardari and MQM Leader Altaf Hussain. He said the safeguarding the interests of the province are the responsibility of Sindh government. He said that PPP is really thankful to MQM for extending their full cooperationThe member of Rabita Committee MQM, Dr Saghir Ahmed said that at present the country is surrounded by different threats and some elements are working against democracy. At this hard juncture MQM expressed open-mindedness instead of inflexibility.He said that some elements want to create differences between urban and rural Sindh but now both the parties have agreed to cease the misunderstandings.However, during question and answer session, contrary to the contents of the news conference, the leadership of both parties showed their differences as bitter questions from the journalists exposed their so-called harmony on the local government. The leaders of two parties parried the questions of the mediamen by saying that everything would be taking place according to the constitution.
