KARACHI, 8 June 2004 — The chief minister in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province resigned yesterday after a month of bloodshed in Karachi claimed 51 lives and sparked three days of rioting.
Sindh Gov. Isharatul Ibad told reporters he had received the letter of resignation of Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Maher.
“Sardar Ali Mohammad Maher has sent his resignation to me and I have accepted it,” Ibad said.
Maher, who is part of the ruling pro-President Pervez Musharraf coalition, cited “personal reasons” for his resignation,” Ibad said. “I have requested him to continue (in office) till the nomination of the new chief minister.” Last week the federal government decided to sack Maher and make other administrative changes.
However, government sources said Gov. Ibad would not be sacked. “A decision has been taken to replace the chief minister and various names are being considered,” the sources said, adding that the chief minister’s slot would remain with the Pakistan Muslim League.
Official sources, however, indicated that the consensus in the ruling coalition has settled on Arbab Ghulam Mohammad Rahim as Maher’s replacement.
Rahim is expected to return from London today, after meeting with Altaf Hussain, the leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which shares power in the province. “Hussain has given his consent to Rahim,” MQM sources said.
“There is political crisis in Sindh with the change of chief minister,” Ibad said.
The election of a new chief minister will take place in a couple of days, Ibad said, but declined to give the name of Maher’s replacement.
Maher became chief minister of Sindh in December 2002, and his departure was prompted by the deteriorating law and order situation there.
The leader of former premier Benazir Bhutto’s opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) dismissed the change as “cosmetic”.
“It’s only change of face and law and order will not improve with such changes,” Nisar Khuhro said.
“Bloody May” in Karachi saw two suicide bomb attacks on Shiite mosques kill 44 worshippers, a parcel bomb kill two people at the city’s busy port, a double car bomb attack kill one policeman near the US consul general’s residence and the assassination of a high-profile Sunni cleric.
Riots triggered by the cleric’s May 30 assassination and the May 31 mosque attack claimed three lives.
Authorities yesterday declared “high security zones” around foreign missions in Karachi.
