The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) announced on Wednesday that they were joining hands for the greater good of Karachi and prevent the city’s vote bank from splitting.
“We have decided to form a political alliance because these testing times require us to do so,”MQM-P chief Farooq Sattar said at highly anticipated joint press conference, flanked by PSP leader Mustafa Kamal.
Also Read: MNA Ali Raza Abidi announces resignation as soon as MQM, PSP join hands
“We will chalk out a strategy for the next elections with one name and symbol,” he added.
“Instead of only focusing on the problems of Karachi and the rest of Sindh, we must take measures to address the issues of the entire country.”
Also Read: Will Take Each Possible Step to Bury MQM Politics: Mustafa
Social media was abuzz with rumours of an expected electoral alliance for the 2018 general election between the two rival parties of Karachi soon after their leaders announced to hold a joint press conference earlier today.
Sources said that MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar and PSP leader Syed Mustafa Kamal will announce the decision as they had agreed to work together to resolve the civic issues of the metropolis.
Also Read:Our headcount has been halved, soon our resources will be too: Sattar
Speaking to the media outside his central office in Bahadurabad, MQM-P chief Sattar confirmed that ‘something big’ was going to happen today and “I think that something should happen” without elaborating any further. “All we want is to serve Karachi and the people better,” he added.
Sattar said they would also invite other political parties functioning in urban and rural Sindh to join this political alliance.
“We hope that illegitimate raids against the party workers will stop now,” he said, adding, “We also hope that missing workers will be recovered” following the formation of the alliance.
“Neither of the parties will lose their identities… this is only a political alliance and an oath to work together,” Farooq Sattar concluded.
“I endorse Farooq Sattar’s views. We are ready to wage a struggle [for the province] under a joint manifesto and name,” said Kamal.
“Right from the day one we held opinion that Altaf Hussain was, is and will remain the chief of Muttahida Qaumi Movement… Therefore the alliance will not function under the name of MQM.
“We began our journey to end Altaf Hussain’s undue influence on the people of Karachi and we have not retreated on that.”
The PSP chief asserted that they did not want his politics to be based on the Mohajir card. “It’s not the leaders who are killed in violence that breaks out when hate is spread on ethnic lines,” he remarked.
“It is the Mohajirs that pay the price for such politics,” he added, highlighting the need for national unity.
The alliance will take along and on-board all communities and ethnic groups, said the PSP leader. “We don’t want the no-go areas for any specific ethnicity to exist or remain,” he added.
Kamal also praised political wisdom and open-hearted approach of Farooq Sattar. “We need to do justice with our designations as leaders… we need to become one at this historic moment,” he added.
Rejecting the interim results of fresh census, the PSP chief said: “If people cannot be counted correctly then nothing positive can be done [in the country].”
Sources told that few MQM-P leaders raised objections regarding forming an alliance with PSP, adding that those leaders were likely to be absent from the joint presser.
It may be mentioned that MQM-P deputy convener Amir Khan is also not present in the country at the moment.
After suffering numerous desertions from its ranks, MQM-P had aimed to consolidate its strength and show the city that it was still a force to be reckoned with when it staged a massive rally in Liaquatabad on Sunday.
