In a soup

The province of Sindh has found itself in a soupy situation for too long a time, without any sense of leadership that could take it towards more solid ground – or indeed without anything resembling governance at all. Following the latest row over the extension of a stay by the Rangers in Sindh, and the general perception that chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah had essentially failed to play any meaningful role in the situation, the PPP leadership meeting in distant Dubai has decided to bring about changes in its home province. According to reports, the relatively young, foreign-educated senior minister, Murad Ali Shah, may soon step in to the cabinet in the position of CM and make an attempt to manage the troubled affairs of Sindh. The question of who will replace Qaim is, however, not yet clear with veterans including Nisar Khuhro and Manzoor Wassan said also to be in the running. The development follows days of uncertainty in Sindh, primarily over the question of powers available to the Rangers and their deployment in the province. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had made it clear that he was unhappy with the Sindh government’s opposition to the rule by the Rangers or the demands from Qaim that he be informed in advance of any action to be taken by the paramilitary force. We can only guess if this was a key factor in the changes decided upon by the top leadership consisting of Asif Ali Zardari and his son Bilawal Zardari.

We wonder how closely they have examined the question of the overall failure of their government in the only province the PPP can claim to still remain a force in. Many of the problems stem from corruption, ineptness, inefficiency and an apparent lack of any will to meet the needs of people. Qaim alone cannot be held responsible for this. The troubles run deeper. Bilawal’s often poorly-thought-out statements – intended, it seems, more to make an impression or suggest he is following in the footsteps of his illustrious grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto – have not given us any reason to believe he understands the situation and its intricacies. Admittedly, the problems of Sindh, tied in to layer upon layer of political, ethnic, social and economic issues, are convoluted. This makes it all the more necessary that they be worked out carefully and a sensible approach taken to the question of how far the Rangers can assist in this. The lack of credibility of the political setup has not helped over the past years. Whatever happens next in Sindh, we must hope the new CM is able to command greater respect and authority than his predecessor and do more for the people once the change comes into effect. Shah, fairly or not, had become a symbol of the PPP’s lack of imagination in Sindh. Changes will also be made to the provincial cabinet. However, with only about two years left for this government to end its tenure, the new CM will face a strong challenge, both within the party and outside it. Under pressure from law enforcement, the party needs to conduct both a cleanup of its image and acceleration of Sindh’s development at the same time. Most will doubt if it is up to it.