After years of differences, Pak Sarzameen Party Chairman Mustafa Kamal and Muttahida Qaumi Movement Restoration Committee Chief Dr Farooq Sattar have joined the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Thursday.
MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, addressing a press conference alongside the top brass of the party, said the “graveness” of the situation in Sindh’s urban areas requires all people to join hands.
Siddiqui said: “It is important that under the circumstances, the people, whose families laid down their lives for Pakistan’s formations, should come together for a historic struggle.”
The MQM-P leader declared that those who want to split the country are disappointed and assured that the revived MQM-P would live up to the hopes of the people and work to develop metropolitan areas.
“I welcome you all — Kamal, Sattar, and their aides. I hope that all of you will strive for the nation,” the former federal minister for information and technology added.
The MQM-P convener stated in answer to a journalist’s query that the party would not permit the holding of the impending local body elections, as such a move would be met with opposition party criticism.
For his part, Kamal claimed that because of the “unthinkable” decisions that will be made on this day, it will be remembered as a “important day” in history.
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“If we [the MQM-P leaders] talk about ourselves, then we have taken such unthinkable decisions in the past as well, which were beyond people’s comprehension,” he said, recalling that when he left MQM founder Altaf Hussain on August 14, 2013, he was a senator and the member of the Rabta committee.
He stated that the decision to leave the party was only motivated by political differences and that he had no personal grievances against Hussain.
“On March 3, 2016, we [Kamal and Qaimkhani] came to Karachi and bluntly spoke the truth, which was once again in the wider interest of the Muhajir cause,” he said.
What the Revival of MQM means
It is anticipated that Mustafa Kamal will be in charge of the administration and Farooq Sattar will be in charge of politics. Organizational issues will be handled by Anis Qaimkhani, and the party leader will be Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. The Rabta Committee, which has about 50 members right now, would also be slashed.
The MQM wants to transform Karachi’s politics and challenge the PPP. In order to significantly influence the make-up of the federal government, it is aiming to win at least 50 seats in the Sindh Assembly and 15 seats in the National Assembly.
MQM is planning how to forge relationships with other political parties as well as religious and non-religious organizations. It is yet to be seen how the party can energise its workers and how it will use the money from its London real estate holdings to fund its campaign.