KARACHI, Nov 21: As the establishment is trying to prop up an anti-People’s Party Parliamentarians constellation in Sindh, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement is insistent on its nominee to head a coalition with others.

As the focus of political activity has now shifted to Sindh, after the election of the prime minister, the MQM sources said that they would resist efforts to ignore their candidate.

But the pro-regime parties from Sindh, which voted for Mir Zafarullah Jamali as prime minister, have expressed concern over Dr Arbab Rahim’s candidature as the Grand National Alliance’s candidate for the top slot because of his controversial stint as Governor Mohammedmian Soomro’s minister.

The party position in the Sindh Assembly is as follows: The People’s Party Parliamentarians: 67 seats, Muttahida Qaumi Movement: 41, Pakistan Muslim League (Q): 13, National Alliance: 16, Pakistan Muslim League (Functional): 13, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal: 10, Independents: two, and Mohajir Qaumi Movement: one. To form a government 85 votes are required.

The head of the PML (F), Pir Saheb Pagara, who supported the PML-Q candidate for the post of prime minister, has reportedly expressed his strong reservations on Arbab Rahim’s candidature. Instead, he has insisted that former chief minister Syed Muzaffar Husain Shah should occupy the chief minister’s position. But he too could face difficulty in view of the MQM’s reservations. However, finally which way the PML-F would go would depend on Pir saheb’s last- minute deliberations with those who matter in the power game.

The MQM being the second largest party in the provincial assembly it is demanding the top slot for its candidate, Sardar Ahmed, who is its parliamentary party leader.

“We should have the Muttahida candidate as chief minister, and those who are interested in becoming part of the government could join us on that condition,” said one of the deputy conveners of the MQM coordination committee, Nasreen Jaleel.

She said that the MQM had the right to claim the chief minister’s position because in her view the PPP was not inclined to form a coalition. But analysts said that the MQM demand could be a ploy to pre-empt any deal with the PPP.

Asked to comment on the nomination of Arbab Rahim by the GNA, she said: “There will be resistance on our part.” Nasreen Jaleel, nevertheless, added that “things have not yet been finalized and discussions are continuing within the party as well as with other elements.”

She said that anyone who accepts our candidate for the top slot would be welcome, whether it is the PPP or anyone else.

The MQM had held intensive negotiations with the PPP and the PML-Q, and it had finally decided to support the PML-Q candidate for the post of prime minister after President Musharraf had ordered the local administration to clear the “no-go areas” to facilitate the Muttahida in staging a comeback in those areas after 10 years.

As a result of this understanding, the parleys with the PPP suddenly took a U-turn, though some of the MQM leaders and many analysts had termed the two parties natural allies which could provide a stable government. But that desirability could not be transformed into a reality due to political expediency.

It is understood that in view of the present tilt of the MQM, its ultimate decision is a foregone conclusion.

Meanwhile, Nisar Khuhro of the PPP is striving very hard to muster support for his party. He has said that contacts with all the elements are being kept open. There is a possibility that the MMA and the PML-F and some elements of the SDA would give him the required number for government formation.

But the shifting stance of the PPP at the centre would have a far-reaching impact on the provincial party, especially when the floor-crossing article of the constitution has not yet been revived by the regime, though it had announced its abhorrence for such immoral practice by political governments.

The formation of a forward bloc within the PPP Sindh has been denied even by those whose names were mentioned in this connection, but the threat is not yet over as manipulation in the number game is becoming very obvious.

If a government minus the PPP is the objective, then it cannot be achieved without defection from the PPP, and that too not in a large number.

The PPP is facing internal pressures as no parliamentary party leader in the Sindh Assembly has yet been named nor has the candidate for chiefministership been named by the PPP.

Insiders are agitated over the shortsighted and badly handled affairs at the centre which failed to prevent defection. They are also critical of the party’s shifting stance and dragging of feet from the understanding arrived at with the MMA through the ARD.

Resentment is on the rise against the party leadership’s policy of not accepting the reality of the mandate given to the MMA, perhaps to satisfy the Western elements.

Some elements within the PPP are insisting that, after the reversal in the National Assembly, the PPP should form a coalition with the MMA and other political forces in the province.

But internal bickering is hindering any meaningful progress towards this end.

If the establishment fails to achieve its desired goal, the assembly session would not be held on Nov 25 as announced, and there would be further delay in holding the inaugural session of the new assembly.