VZCZCXRO6943
RR RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHKP #0220/01 0771438
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 171438Z MAR 08
FM AMCONSUL KARACHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0376
INFO RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 4092
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 2480
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 4364

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KARACHI 000220 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT: SINDH -- MQM LEADER SAYS PARTY LEFT OUT OF 
NATIONAL/PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS 
 
REF: A. A) KARACHI 141 
     ¶B. B) KARACHI 159 
 
Classified By: Kay Anske, Consul General, 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
 ¶1.  (C)  Summary:  On March 14, Farooq Sattar, Muttahida 
Quami Movement (MQM) leader, told the Consul General that his 
party has not been approached to participate as a coalition 
partner in either the national or Sindh provincial 
governments.  He was not in favor of a blanket restoration of 
the judiciary to its pre-November 3 status and said he feared 
the new national government would incorporate Sharia law in 
Pakistan.  Sattar speculated that the national and provincial 
governments might reduce funding to the Karachi city 
government and hinted at possible retribution by MQM members 
for continued attacks by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) 
workers.  During the meeting, he outlined a Machiavellian 
plan for maneuvering an ally of PPP leader Asif Zardari into 
the Sindh Chief Minister position and disavowed MQM interest 
in the Sindh governor,s slot.  End summary. 
 
National Government 
------------------- 
¶2.  (C)  In a March 14 meeting with the Consul General, 
Farooq Sattar, Deputy Convener of the Muttahida Quami 
Movement (MQM), said his party had not been asked to 
participate in a national coalition government and was 
content to sit in opposition in the National Assembly (NA). 
(MQM controls 25 of the 342 NA seats.)  Describing the 
current situation as &do-or-die8 time for the country, 
Sattar added that he felt what Pakistan needed most was a 
&clear-headed8 approach to governance that did not focus on 
past rivalries at the expense of addressing problems such as 
security, terrorism, energy and food shortages, and water 
quality.  He was concerned that the new government would 
become bogged down in controversy over the continued role of 
President Pervez Musharraf and over the restoration of the 
deposed judiciary.  He felt that Musharraf should get credit 
for holding free and relatively fair elections. 
 
¶3.  (C)  Questioning the legitimacy of the current judiciary 
since it was installed under the Provisional Control 
Ordinance (PCO), Sattar said that he was not in favor of 
restoring it to its pre-November 3 state.  Instead, he 
referred to a 2007 agreement between the late Benazir Bhutto 
and Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Nawaz Sharif to establish 
an independent commission to vet a new judiciary that did not 
take oaths under the PCO. 
 
Concern Over Role of Islamic Fundamentalism 
------------------------------------------- 
¶4.  (C)  Sattar was concerned about the rising role of Islam 
in Pakistani politics.  Characterizing PML-N leader Nawaz 
Sharif a &mullah without a beard,8 Sattar said he feared 
participation of PML-N in a new government would be a 
precursor to full incorporation of Sharia law in Pakistan. 
He predicted the current government would return to the 
policies of former president Zia ul-Haq that encouraged the 
growth of the Taliban and other radical Islamic movements in 
the 1980s.  (Note:  In earlier conversations, CG was reminded 
by the MQM that Zia ul-Haq had publicly declared Nawaz Sharif 
to be his &son8.  End note.) 
 
Sindh Provincial and City Governments 
------------------------------------- 
¶5.  (C)  Sattar said that Pakistan People's Party (PPP) 
representatives had only approached MQM once to discuss a 
possible power sharing arrangement in the new Sindh 
provincial government with, what he claimed, was a low-level 
delegation.  (Note:  The only high ranking person on the 
delegation was PPP Sindh President Qaim Ali Shah.  End note.) 
 The PPP has enough Provincial Assembly members to form a 
government without a coalition partner, and Sattar said MQM 
was content to sit in the opposition in the Assembly.  In 
that role, he said he was worried that the provincial and 
central governments would cut off or severely limit funding 
to the Karachi municipal governments in a repeat of what 
occurred in the 1990s when PPP controlled the Sindh 
Provincial government and MQM was in control of Karachi. 
 
¶6.  (C)  Sattar claimed that PPP-affiliated gangs had 
attacked and killed MQM party officials after the elections. 
He said he has urged his party members to exercise restraint 
in the face of these provocations.  However, he warned that 
he was not sure how much longer he could keep MQM rank and 
file in check, raising the specter of a return to large-scale 
violence between the parties in Karachi. 
 
¶7.  (C)  At the city level, he pointed out that PPP was 
interested in eliminating the local body structure initiated 
 
KARACHI 00000220  002 OF 002 
 
 
by Musharraf which gave every Pakistani city direct authority 
over its operations in lieu of provincial control.  He opined 
that PPP wanted to eliminate this structure because it gave 
too much power to the local governments and diluted the power 
of the &feudal lords,8 which he equated to PPP leadership. 
 
New Sindh Chief Minister 
------------------------ 
¶8.  (C)  Sattar termed the PPP appointment of Qaim Ali Shah 
as Sindh Chief Minister (CM) a political maneuver designed to 
ultimately ensure the appointment of Agha Siraj Durrani, a 
close ally of PPP leader Asif Zardari, who spent years in 
exile with him.  Since Shah is from the branch of the PPP 
that remained in Pakistan during the Bhutto exile years, the 
appointment will placate that segment of the party.  However, 
as Sattar explained it, Shah is widely deemed to be 
incompetent and ineffective and will most likely fail as CM, 
forcing PPP to appoint another CM, who he speculated would be 
Durrani. 
 
¶9.  (C)  Comment:  Clearly frustrated at PPP's snub, Sattar 
is lashing out with wild accusations and allegations about 
the new government.  The media reported on March 17 that MQM 
would join with PML in the opposition in the National 
Assembly.  His concern that the national and provincial 
governments may cut funding to the city coupled with his 
warning that the party rank-and-file may be difficult to 
restrain in the face of claims of PPP violence against MQM 
workers could foreshadow a return to open hostility and 
violence between the two parties.  End comment. 
ANSKE