Sindh's crumbling coalition

President General Pervez Musharraf's recent announcement that the national elections will be held on schedule, some time between September 15 and October 15 next year - one month before the end of the present assemblies' term - has triggered an all round election related activity.
It has put new pressures on the already fragile ruling coalition in Sindh, an artificial construct cobbled together by the establishment. The Sindh government's internal squabbling, under relative control until now, has spilled out in the open.
Only two of the MQM's 42 legislators attended the Friday and Monday sessions of the provincial assembly, which was later prorogued abruptly, apparently due to Muttahida Quami Movement's (MQM) informal boycott of its proceedings. This was supposed to be the MQM way of registering its protest against Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim who declared angrily, "This is no way of protest, they should attend the assembly session."
The MQM leader, Dr Imran Farooq, confirmed the suspected reasons behind the protest as he told a section of the press that the Chief Minister was unwilling to lift the ban on fresh recruitment and to consult his "major coalition partner regarding development projects." Needless to say, both areas are of immense interest to the Muttahida, especially at this point in time. Provision of jobs and civic amenities to the people, of course, is almost necessary to win votes. The CM has, of course, his own support base to secure. He and the MQM do not see eye-to-eye on some other issues as well, particularly contentious ones being the creation of new districts in the province and control over DCOs and other civil administration officers. They also take opposing positions on the demolition of 'goths', though the leader of the PPP Opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Nisar Khuhro derided the CM's assurance to the affectees of the demolished goths that they would be resettled in the schemes that have been created for the rehabilitation of people displaced by the Lyari Expressway project. Notably, the CM told the assembly session on Monday that his government had some differences with the MQM over the "interests of Sindh." And in an apparent bid to placate Sindhi sentiments, he told the House that no legal village in Sindh would be demolished, offering the Opposition a proposal to set up a joint committee on the issue.
The prevailing level of mistrust between the CM and the MQM, though expected between such unnatural partners, can only contribute to unnecessary uncertainty at the present time. The situation has already prompted the leader of the opposition to demand the CM's resignation, pointing out the stark reality that the ministers are not obeying his orders while members of the ruling coalition are staying away from the assembly session.
Since the issues of contention relate to power struggle as it might affect the Sindh ruling coalition members' respective electoral turf battles, their differences are likely to sharpen in the coming months unless those who created the present set-up do intervene to prevent further chaos. Indications are that the powers-that-be are already at work to save the situation. Preserving the present set-up until the next elections seems to be their best bet, given that there are not too many options open to them to install a new government between now and the caretaker arrangement that is to see the elections through.