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Sindh Govt. formation promises high drama

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Dec. 8. As life returns to normal tomorrow after the weekend Id celebrations in Pakistan, Sindh is all set for a big political drama as rival political formations make a bid to form the government in the province.

The elections to the Sindh Assembly were held along with the elections to the national and the other three Assemblies in the country. Like Punjab and Baluchistan, no political party or group of parties managed to secure a simple majority in the Sindh Assembly.

The Government in Punjab was formed by the pro-Musharraf Muslim League with the help of independents. In Baluchistan, much to the surprise of political observers, the pro-Musharraf groups struck a deal with the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), an alliance of six religious parties, and thus a Government headed by the rebel Muslim League was born.

However, the Sindh Assembly is different from both the National and other Assemblies. It is the only province where the Pakistan People's Party led by the former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, has emerged as the single largest party. And in it lies the test for the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf.

The manner in which the inaugural session of the Sindh Assembly has been postponed twice had led to allegations that the military Government does not want PPP to form the government. The PPP has accused Gen. Musharraf of trying to manipulate the government formation by parties not opposed to him.

The PPP is apprehensive that a forward block within the Sindh legislative party, on the lines of what happened at the national level in the second week of November, could emerge to help the pro-Musharraf groups form the government.

The Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), the second largest political group in the Assembly, has been attempting to form a government with the help of pro-military parties in the province. What has strengthened this perception is the decision of Gen. Musharraf that the twice postponed inaugural session of the Assembly hours after the MQM decided to take back its move to sit in the Opposition and support the Jamali Government.

The formation of the government in Sindh province is crucial for the constitution of the Parliament as well as for `full transfer' of power from the military to the civilian set up. Election to the Senate (equivalent to Rajya Sabha), originally scheduled in October has been indefinitely postponed. Indications are that if everything goes according to the script in Sindh, the Senate polls would now be held during the last week of December.

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