Naimat Khan
KARACHI: Dr Farooq Sattar-led Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) and Mustafa Kamal-led Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), in a bid to retain Mohajir votes, have decided to contest the next general elections in 2018 under “one name, one manifesto and one symbol”.
This was announced by leaders of the both parties here at a crowded news conference at Karachi Press Club on Wednesday.
“Name of the election alliance and future strategy would be decided in next meeting,” Sattar told news conference, which drew irk of several MQM leaders, including, Amir Khan who is abroad for Umra and MNA Raza Ali Abidi who announced to resign from party and national assembly seat as a protest.
I welcome the friends from PSP on sitting together with us, he said and added; “the aim of today news conference is to save the vote bank of Sindh and Karachi from being divided.”
“We have decided to form a working relationship or political alliance. Our aim is sustainable peace in the city and save the vote bank from being divided,” he said.
“I endorse Farooq Sattar Bhai. We will contest next elections under one name, one symbol and one manifesto,” said Mustafa Kamal, the PSP chairman, disclosing that talks were undergoing for the last six months. “Because the MQM belonged to its founder and will belong to him, we will never use this name,” he clarified, saying that by using word Mohajir they had been creating distance from millions of Pashtuns, Punjabis, Sindhis and people of other communities living in the portside metropolis.
The MQM-P chief said, “It is our job — the leaders of both parties — to convey to our workers that we are doing this because we want a better future for the city. We want our due share in the development of this city. We want to be counted. We want jobs for our youth.”
“Pakistan, the province of Sindh and Karachi have been besieged in many crises. In particular, the parties active in Karachi and Sindh have felt that we not only have to address problems concerning Karachi and Sindh, but also those that concern the wider country,” Sattar said. “We should ensure that Karachi never faces the kind of political violence it witnessed in the past”.
The PSP chief said that if a Mohajir is not ready to embrace others as a leader, he will encourage more hatred against the Mohajir community. This has been the reason why Karachi has been so wracked by violence.
Though the modalities of the newly envisioned political alliance will be announced late, Kamal made it clear that “it would be anything but MQM”.
“I am not backing down from what I stand for — we came to bring down Altaf Husain and destroy his toxic legacy,” he maintained. During his press conference, Kamal asked the security forces to forgive the youth and people of Karachi like they announced an amnesty for the youth of Balochistan who had fought against the state.
The PSP leader said that the youth of Karachi should also be given a choice to join the mainstream. “Give them a chance to reform. If they step out of line once again, we will hand them over to LEAs ourselves,” Kamal asserted.
He hoped that the announcement to form a political alliance will also put a stop to the politically motivated arrests of MQM and PSP workers.
“Ladies n Gentlemen from the Holy land of Karbala, I announce to quit MQMP n resign from NA251 as this is not what I believed in n stood for,” , MQM leader and lawmaker Ali Raza Abidi announced to part ways from the party.
“We do not accept the census, and every concerned citizen, including retired judges and intellectuals, agree with us,” Kamal stressed. “Seven million people from the urban areas of Sindh have not been accounted for in the census.” He pleaded with the government to forgive the children of Karachi.
“I ask the government and the establishment to forgive the children of Karachi just the way they forgave Baluchistan’s children,” Kamal requested. PSP Chairman Mustafa Kamal arrived at the Karachi Press Club soon after MQM-P Chief Farooq Sattar, accompanied by Kamran Tessori and Abdul Rauf Siddiqui, reached the venue of the joint press conference.
MQM-P’s Deputy Convener Amir Khan, while talking to a news channel, expressed his concern over the development between his party and PSP. “The mandate given to our colleagues was different from what has come forward,” Khan said. “This is not what we agreed upon.” Khan added that he will look into the development after reaching the country today. He is presently in Saudi Arabia to perform the Umrah ritual.
“I consider this a welcome move if a grand alliance is formed for the betterment of the city,” MQM-P leader Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hasan said. Former governor of Sindh Ishrat-ul-Ebad denied all rumors about the possibility of being appointed as the leader of the ‘merged MQM-P and PSP.’
“I appreciate the decision of the parties to meet and do away with the rifts because divisions will never benefit the city,” he said, “but I have I not played any part in this development, at least in the recent days.” Ebad claimed to have not been in contact with the parties but did not completely reject the possibility of his role in the new party.
