The Hindu : Pro-Musharraf parties' man elected Sindh CM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 17, 2002

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International

Pro-Musharraf parties' man elected Sindh CM

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD DEC. 16. A nominee of the pro-Musharraf parties, Ali Mohammad Mahar, was elected the Chief Minister of the Sindh province on Monday, defeating his rival from the Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) by a margin of 20 votes in a 170-Assembly seats.

Sindh is the last among the four provinces in Pakistan, to which Assembly elections were held on October 10 along with the polls to the National Assembly, to have an elected Government.

The formation of a government in Sindh paves the way for holding of elections to the Senate without which the constitution of Parliament will not be complete. Though it was supposed to be a permanent House, the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, had dissolved it along with the Assemblies. Originally elections to the Senate were scheduled a few days after the October 10 elections, but the process was delayed inordinately as it took more than two months to form governments at the National and provincial level.

The PPPP, led by the former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, had emerged as the single largest party in the Sindh Assembly with 67 members, but it failed to form a government despite support from the nine-member Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) as it could not win over smaller groups. Dissension within the party over the choice of its chief ministerial candidate contributed to the inability of the party to form a Government in the only province where it had a chance. It appears at least half-a-dozen of its members broke ranks and voted for Mr. Mahar.

The election of Mr. Mahar as the Chief Minister no doubts marks a victory for the pro-Musharraf groups, but it is likely to be a difficult arrangement. The new chief minister would have a tough task in accommodating the conflicting interests of the smaller groups in the government.

More important he would be at the mercy of the mercurial Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) the largest group in the ruling coalition with 45 members. The MQM had demonstrated its power at the national and provincial level by withdrawing support to the Mir Zafrullah Khan Jamali Government just days after the Prime Minister was elected.

Jolted by the MQM pullout, Mr. Jamali and his supporters rushed into negotiations with the alliance of religious parties and the Benazir party. Even as they were in the midst of dialogue with the Opposition parties, the MQM returned to the treasury benches but after extracting its price for the support.

The MQM wants its nominee as the Governor of Sindh. What has complicated matters to the Jamali regime was the decision of the MQM to announce the name of adviser to Altaf Hussain, party chief on exile in London. Like Mr. Hussain it was believed that his adviser had also fled Karachi to London following police charges against him.

A section of the Pakistan media has reported that the MQM might not have its way in appointment of the Sindh Governor, as some of the retired Generals close to Gen. Musharraf are eyeing the post.

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Pro-Musharraf parties' man elected Sindh CM