Kamal’s fresh bid to establish PSP reach across city

Mustafa Kamal has launched a membership campaign to establish the Pak Sarzameen Party’s (PSP) reach across the metropolis, in an apparent bid to prove himself to Farooq Sattar.

On the second day of the drive on Sunday, former city mayor Kamal and other PSP leaders, including party president Anis Qaimkhani and general secretary Raza Haroon, visited the campaign’s camps in Korangi and Malir districts and spoke to the media.

Commenting on the short-lived political alliance between the PSP and the Sattar-led Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Kamal said he did not wish to make enemies of his rivals, but he would rather work with them to solve the crises faced by Karachi, Hyderabad and other urban centres in Sindh.

The PSP and the MQM-P are vying to claim the public mandate in these cities, technically filling the political void created after a blanket ban on the activities of MQM founder Altaf Hussain and the London faction of the party.

Kamal said that even though the PSP was the youngest political party among its rivals – launched on March 23, 2016 – it had given a tough time to parties with 30 to 40 years under the belt. Terming it “initial success”, he said that more would follow in time.

“We want to provide the youth with jobs and education. And we want to bring justice to the country. We shall work for everyone regardless that they support us or oppose us.”

When asked to comment on the offer extended by former military ruler and president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf to join his alliance, Kamal declined to respond.

The PSP chief said that the usage of the ‘Mohajir card’ in politics had been met with hate, not only by people of other ethnicities but by the Urdu-speaking community as well.

“We don’t want more mothers to lose their children to this politics of hatred. We want to bring everyone closer to each other,” he stressed. Meanwhile, the PSP claims that the party has registered around 50,000 workers in just two days of the campaign. The membership drive concludes on Monday (today).  

PPP responds to MQM-P

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh General Secretary Waqar Mehdi said in a statement that the PPP would never abandon the people of Karachi, all their grievances would be resolved and their rights ensured, adds our correspondent.

The statement was issued on Sunday in response to the back-to-back fiery news conferences by MQM-P and PSP leaders causing serious uproar in the city’s politics.

Mehdi said the MQM and its splinter groups could not fool the Urdu-speaking community any more, adding that communal politics should come to an end. “Whether it’s MQM-P or the London faction, they have always caused hardships for the Urdu-speaking community.”

He said the community had always been loyal and patriotic, striving for the welfare and protection of the country. “But it’s wrong to give the impression that they are being singled out and subjected to persecution, as this is the work of some miscreants politicking on bias.”

The PPP leader said the people knew very well the tactics of such politicking, adding that in reality, the basic rights of the people were trampled upon to plunder money and resources. He said the MQM had grabbed ample opportunities in the past to undertake historical steps to entirely transform Karachi, but all such prospects had been entirely lost.

The MQM has always agitated against lack of powers available to its elected authorities but it refrains from taking steps required for the welfare and wellbeing of the people despite the fact that they were easily doable for the party, he added. “The MQM stands today under the shadow of the same tree whose seeds it had sown in the past.”

Meanwhile, the meeting of the PPP Sindh Council has been convened on Monday (today) at the Chief Minister House, read a statement issued by the PPP spokesman. The meeting will be chaired by PPP Sindh President Nisar Khuhro.

The meeting will take up the issue of participation of people from the province in the central public meeting being held to commemorate the golden jubilee of the PPP’s foundation. The central public meeting will be held in Islamabad’s Parade Ground on December 5. The council meeting will also discuss the arrangements for the public meeting at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on December 27 to mark the 10th death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto.