MQM after mayoral polls

Published August 25, 2016

THE most important voices in the entire MQM episode have just weighed in and their verdict is clear. As expected, the MQM has swept the elections to the positions of mayor, deputy mayor and chairman of three of the six district municipal corporation councils in Karachi. In Hyderabad, too, the result has been a sweep. The fact that the events of the last few days did nothing to impact the manner in which the MQM councillors voted is important to note here. Any disruption at this level would be an indicator of how the transition towards a post-Altaf Hussain leadership of the party is working out. Another indicator is that in his victory speech, Waseem Akhtar, the future mayor of Karachi who will run the city via video link from prison, made no reference to Mr Hussain except in passing. He did not shower gratitude and accolades upon him as has been customary for MQM candidates. 

It is important to let this transition work itself out. Matters are being dragged in the wrong direction by overreaction to Mr Hussain’s incendiary speech. The Rangers have no business sealing the offices of a political party or picking up its elected representatives without legally notified cause, no matter what the provocation. There are laws that govern such actions — but those laws have not been followed in this case. For its part, the MQM should do more to demonstrate clearly that it is departing from its old ways of doing things. The militant wing of the party, which ruled the city through fear, has to be put at a distance unambiguously, and a purely political path forward must be visibly adopted. Mr Hussain’s announcement that the Rabita Committee will be empowered to run and preside over party affairs while he takes a ‘break’ may or may not be sincere, but at least for now it has saved the MQM from splintering.

A demilitarised MQM whose affairs are run entirely from Karachi is in the interest of the city, as are functioning and empowered municipal corporations. The Sindh government has a chance to advance both goals by devolving more powers to the office of the mayor and to the municipal authorities, as well as giving the new mayor access to meet people while he remains in prison. This is the right moment to work towards both objectives simultaneously. The leadership of the MQM needs political space to consolidate their position because the outbreak of factional violence within the party would be extremely damaging to Karachi as well as to the country’s overall politics. There will be a temptation to see this as a moment to strike in an effort to eliminate the party altogether, but this should be strongly resisted. Visceral sentiment and emotions have no place in making decisions that involve the destiny of millions of people.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2016

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