The MQM pulls off a jenny

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has returned to President Asif Ali Zardari’s pack… or perhaps it never really left.

As the saying in Punjabi goes, “jethon di khoti, othay aan khaloti”, meaning that a jenny (female donkey) after straying off returns to its original spot, the MQM is all set to renew its vows with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and after its brief adventure as an opposition party, is ready to resume its role as a coalition partner.

MQM’s Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan has returned to take over as the Sindh governor again after his party chief Altaf Hussain gave him the green signal following the latter’s telephonic conversation with the president.

Now the party is expected to return to the treasury benches in the federal and provincial governments anytime soon.

So the question that arises is: why did the MQM make so much fuss at the time of its break-up with the PPP? The hullabaloo created by the MQM when it left the ruling coalition gave an impression that there won’t be going back this time around.

In a much trumpeted and chest-beating fashion, the party had announced that it was parting ways with the government. Then there was the Dr Zulfiqar Mirza episode that left more than 100 people dead in Karachi.

Regretfully, the whole drama is now winding up with an anti-climax. The MQM has certainly got it wrong this time. Its decision to become part of the government again would seriously hurt its credibility and many are likely to believe that it’s ready to compromise on any principle as long as it carries on staying in power.

The party has blown a great opportunity to prove its critics wrong and show that its first priority is public interest and not power. But such examples are far and few on our political landscape.