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Disquiet in the dovecotes

Nirupama Subramanian

There is concern in Pakistan's ruling party at the May 12 incidents in Karachi and at being associated with the MQM, blamed for the violence in the city.

THE RAPIDLY changing political scene in Pakistan since March 9 and the uncertainty ahead has created unprecedented unrest in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Q) and affected its relations with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which is widely blamed for the May 12 Karachi violence.

The party's two-day central executive committee earlier this week was a stormy affair. Prominent members expressed unease at the "ill-advised" reference against the Pakistan Chief Justice and at the manner in which subsequent developments were "mishandled."

Added to this, the former Prime Minister, Mir Zafruallah Khan Jamali, chose this sensitive time to hand in his resignation as party member, and appears determined to stick to it despite a round of talks with President Pervez Musharraf, and another with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. But Mr. Aziz managed to persuade another Minister, Nilofar Bhaktiar, who resigned earlier angered by the party's failure to stand by her as hardline clerics attacked her for "obscene" conduct, to stay on. She has withdrawn her resignation and was back at the Ministry on Thursday.

"The party is feeling the heat of the moment and is gearing up for the challenges. There is a feeling that the general graph of the party has gone down considerably and the party is concerned about this," said a senior parliamentarian.

During the meeting, held over Monday and Tuesday, several leaders of the party asked the government to take immediate steps to resolve the crisis or pay a heavy price during the elections. Parliamentary elections are due between November 2007 and February 2008.

At a meeting of ruling coalition partners last week, PML (Q) members told President Musharraf that a push for his re-election by the outgoing electoral college (Parliament and Provincial Assemblies) could aggravate the crisis.

The PML (Q) came into existence before the 2002 elections, hacked out of the Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party. Known as the "King's Party,"it draws sustenance from President Musharraf, and is his support base in Parliament.

There is disquiet within the PML (Q) at the May 12 incidents in Karachi, and at being associated with the MQM, blamed for triggering the violence in the city and is a partner in the ruling coalition in the federal and provincial governments.

Some leaders, particularly those from Sindh, want a judicial enquiry into the incidents so that the culprits behind the violence can be identified. They have also been concerned at President Musharraf's justification of the MQM decision to take out a rally in Karachi on May 12, when it was well known that the Chief Justice would visit the city. President Musharraf told Aaj TV in an interview last week that the MQM was well within its rights to make that decision as a rally in support of the Chief Justice would have passed through party strongholds and it had to challenge that. At the ruling coalition meeting, called mainly to garner support for the MQM, President Musharraf asked the parties in the coalition to stand up for each other.

Aziz's offer

In order to placate the ranks of the PML (Q), Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz offered to open a dialogue with Opposition parties "for national reconciliation." The party has also announced the setting up of a "policy planning working group" to review the political situation and prepare strategies for the election. It wants to invite intellectuals and other opinion leaders to meetings of the policy group to seek their suggestions.

In Sindh, the provincial government appears to have realised the enormity of damage caused by the May 12 clashes along ethnic lines. It is now in damage-control mode, with the Governor, an MQM nominee, opening lines of communication with the Opposition Awami National Party and the right-wing religious Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal over the May 12 incidents. The ANP, which represents the city's Pakhtuns, lost several activists in the clashes.

Information Minister Muhammed Ali Durrani described the meetings as a "bold initiative" to promote "national reconciliation," and said it showed that the government wanted to take along all Opposition parties and resolve "all outstanding issues through dialogue."

The MQM has, however, said it is mulling a decision to quit the ruling coalition following the PML (Q)'s reluctance to show solidarity with it as it took the flak for the violence in Karachi.

At a three-day meeting in London where its leader Altaf Hussain is based, the MQM co-ordination committee said it was considering three options: to quit the coalition altogether and sit in the Opposition benches, to withdraw from the federal government but stay on in the treasury benches, or quit both federal and the Sindh provincial governments but continue on the treasury side.

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