Will Bilawal be able to assert himself?

Sindh is going to have a new team, a young Captain, and hopefully a new vision also to run the government that had been missing in the successive PPP governments.

Veteran Syed Qaim Ali Shah has been asked to step down to be replaced with young finance minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah. It is important to analyze Shah's tenure, his failures and limitations, but the new set up will also be a real test for young PPP Chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who asserted to get this decision of saying goodbye to the talented “uncle.”

After 2013 general elections, when veteran Shah was nominated as CM, no one in PPP had any idea about the “Karachi Targeted Action” and its outcome.

Unfortunately, good governance, administration and corruption had never been an issue for the PPP, the three major factors behind its predicament, besides the MQM issue and the discord with the PML-N at the Centre, which the new CM would have to confront.

However, Qaim Ali Shah's failure was also the failure of the former president Asif Ali Zardari, his sister, Farryal Talpur and their cronies who were fully involved in running the government in 2008 and 2013.

For instance, in 2008, Qaim Ali Shah had opposed the manner in which the then Interior Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza was handling MQM. At one stage Mirza was practically running a parallel government in Sindh and eventually things went out of control. But Shah was asked to keep away from it.

For all practical purposes, the CM House was being run from outside and Shah was following “dictation.” But, as a chief executive, he had two choices, either to resist or assert himself or quit. Resignation would have been better for him before being asked to resign.

Shah became controversial for serious complaints of corruption of some of his ministers and advisers who were not in his control like Sharjeel Memon and  Owais Muzzafar Tappi. Both were required for probe in corruption cases.

When the operation was launched PPP's top leadership never thought that their own province would become a “No Go Area” for them including former president Zardari who left the country after he attended a meeting of the apex committee in the presence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and COAS Gen Raheel Sharif and smelt some trouble. He also alerted Qaim Ali Shah about a possible action against his “friends” and some government officials.

Zardari, wanted to remove the CM after the arrest of his closest friend Dr Asim Hussain. Shah was not even aware of the arrest when he got a call from Dubai. What annoyed Zardari the most was the fact that Shah had given “green signal” to Asim that nothing would happen if he decided to return. It brought a lot of embarrassment to him as captain of the operation and he protested with the military and PM Sharif.

Raids on Sindh Building Control Authority, Fishries Cooperative Society and arrest warrant for officials considered close to top leadership like Manzoor Kaka and Nisar Morai, further aggravated the situation.

PPP leadership soon realized that the rangers often acted without seeking consent from the Captain of the operation, and he was asked to assert his authority.

Shah on the other hand informed the party leadership about serious complaints he was getting about some ministers and advisers inducted in the cabinet on Dubai's instructions.

What happened in Larkana with Asad Kharrak and Sikhandar Sial, brother of Home Minister Anwar Sial, was the last nail in the coffin of Shah's government. Sources said he had even refused to talk to DG Rangers for the release of minister's brother. On the contrary, he was angry the manner in which he tried to get Kharral freed from police custody.

Now would the new CM face similar problems as his predecessor faced — outside interference, both in the formation of cabinet and running the government.

However, it would be a young captain with a new team led by a young leader of the party. By changing political set-up in Sindh and replacing one Shah with another Shah, PPP Chairman Bilawal has finally decided to assert himself on political and administrative matters before the next general elections in 2018.

Bilawal has a huge task ahead as he could see the continued decline in party's popularity and bleak chances in the next elections. The only option left for the party is to bring major changes in the set-up and set some examples of good governance, at least in Sindh.

This is a good beginning for Bilawal as he sought resignation not only from Qaim Ali Shah but also from President of PPP, Azad Kashmir, Ch Yaseen. It clearly indicates that for the first time the party's top leadership realized the decline in party's popularity, not for any other reason, but for bad governance and corruption. Bilawal he was not satisfied with government's performance.

PPP and Bilawal have two years to set some examples of governance, for which they have to get rid of highly corrupt team of bureaucrats who neither have the capacity nor will to deliver.

People of Sindh and elsewhere would judge this new setup as close to Bilawal's vision of politics which somehow looked different from that of his father and former president Zardari.

The new CM must lead from the front as he has not much time as the next general elections are not far off, but he has a will, there is always a way. If he takes some revolutionary steps, Sindh can compete with other provinces in governance. He told me about a month back that Sindh's basic issue is corruption, presence of highly incompetent people who don't have the capacity.  “ Unfortunately, those who are competent and have the capacity to work are highly corrupt,” he said. Sindh has a poor record of governance, highly politicized police and there is hardly any department which is not corrupt.

For all this, he has to make government more open to accountability and can take a few lesson from Kyber Pakhtoonkhawa and even from Punjab in bringing in an effective Right to Information ACT. If the new CM starts taking “dictation” from outside and doesn’t resist direct interference, it would negatively impact Bilawal's vision of new politics.

It would be interesting to see if the new cabinet is just a change of faces or Bilawal really means business. The PPP top leadership waited for almost eight years to bring a change in Sindh's political set-up. Now, one has to wait to see if this change is real that manifests itself in politics and mindset.

It may not be an easy journey for any Shah, Qaim or Murad, as long as party continues to be run from Dubai or London.

(The writer is the columnist and analyst of GEO, The News and Jang)