It seems the major parties are gearing up for the elections due early next year. Though the latest moves by the PML-N and the MQM are not related to one another, they are both related to the upcoming election. The PML-N move targets one of the PPP’s coalition partners as well, as it seems that is exploiting the local rivalries of the Chaudhry cousins in Gujrat to not just find candidates against them, but also to weaken the PPP in the district. This was the result of Ch Ahmad Saeed joining the PML-N. Apart from being the brother of PPP Federal Minister Ahmad Mukhtar, it also means Mian Nawaz has accommodated someone named PIA Chairman by Gen Pervez Musharraf. His absolute refusal to consider League unification, and accusations against Ch Shujaat of having supported General Musharraf, thus do not hold water. The PML-N had previously attracted the Nawabzadas over, including the brothers of Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gul, formerly both MNA and MPA for the PPP.
The MQM has said it is ready to leave the government if its demands are not met within three days. This is over the Sindh People’s Local Government Ordinance, which took the PPP and the MQM some time to hammer out, but which proved a headache for the former when it provoked the departure of such coalition partners as the ANP, the NPP and the PML-F. The PPP wants to revise the SPLGO before bringing it to the Sindh Assembly. While local councils are important to the MQM, it appears that the party also wants to enter the election while opposing the government, after having spent almost the whole term in government.
The PPP would be busy with the immediate firefighting, but it should note that individuals leaving the party and partners the coalition at this stage indicates that its government has been such that they do not wish to shoulder the burden of having to defend its record. It is also worthy of note that the PPP has not been attracting leaders from other parties to make up for the losses it has suffered. If its record in office is not rendered problematic by the galloping inflation, the energy shortages symbolized by loadshedding, the loss of jobs caused by that inflation, it should have been thronged at every level by prospective candidates wanting a ticket. Instead, though unlikely at this election, it has to face the prospect of not being able to put up a full slate of candidates.