Sindh National Front

Sindh National Front (S.N.F.) is a political party in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is currently led by Mumtaz Bhutto, the cousin of Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan, who was hanged by the regime of Zia-ul-Haq.

The main objective of the party is 'confederation', or a state where there is genuine provincial autonomy for each of the four provinces of Pakistan (Sindh, Punjab, the North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan). The party desires to bring about the same kind of autonomy which is currently being enjoyed by the states in the United States and Canada, the provinces of India and Australia, and the cantons in Switzerland.

Sindh National Front believes that the 'provincial autonomy' which presently exists in Pakistan, provided in accordance with the Government of India Act of 1935, was actually meant for the provinces of colonial India and not for the provinces of a free and independent Pakistan. But after that in 1940 (Lahore resolution) was the main theme of Independent Pakistan. The Lahore Resolution is totally in favour of a Confederation.

For 2002 general elections, SNF under Mumtaz Bhutto joined the pro-Musharraf government's loose political coalition, the National Alliance. The alliance won 16 out of 342 seats, mainly in the interior Sindh and lower Punjab region, or 4.78% of the total votes. [Hasan Mansoor. [http://www.himalmag.com/2003/february/report_2.htm "The pathology of military democracy: Manufacturing a government in Sindh"] "Himal South Asia", February 2003 report]

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