It can be argued that Musharraf’s tarrying is already bringing the coalition under a strain. The PML-N, for instance, has made it clear to the PPP that it will quit the government at the Centre if the MQM is offered any federal ministries — a delayed reaction to the PPP’s engagement with the Karachi-based ethnocentric party, of which the PML-N had no prior knowledge. The PPP sees it as crucial to come to an understanding with the MQM for it to be able to sail smooth in Sindh. The vote in the province is squarely divided along rural-urban lines, with the major urban centres of Karachi and Hyderabad falling to the MQM and rural Sindh voting overwhelmingly for the PPP. An understanding has been reached with the MQM to make it a coalition partner in Sindh, with the party also retaining its all-powerful governor.

The PML-N and the ANP already see this as a betrayal on the part of Zardari. Memories of the gory drama enacted in Karachi on May 12 last year, in which 42 people were gunned down by MQM supporters in a bid to stop a combined opposition and lawyers’ rally to welcome the deposed chief justice, are fresh in their minds. The Sindh government had also expelled non-resident leaders and banned their entry into the province following the May 12 carnage. The PML-N has demanded an unconditional apology from the MQM, together with a pledge that Karachi will not be made out of bounds for other political parties, for the MQM to be accepted into the ruling coalition. There is no chance that the MQM, which is seen as Musharraf’s Trojan horse, will oblige.

... contd.