KARACHI: Former nazim of Karachi Mustafa Kamal finally announced on Wednesday the name of his new party — the Pak Sarzameen Party. He made the announcement at an event where he was accompanied by the seven Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) dissidents who had over the last few weeks shed their previous allegiances and joined his ranks.

On March 3, Mr Kamal and former senior MQM leader Anis Kaimkhani returned to Pakistan from Dubai, held an explosive press conference, quit the Altaf Hussain-led party and announced a new political forum. The duo were later joined by two MQM MPAs — Dr Sagheer Ahmed and Iftikhar Alam — as well as former leaders Waseem Aftab, Raza Haroon and Anis Ahmed Khan aka Anis Advocate.

Twenty days later, on the Pakistan Day, Mr Kamal announced the name of his party and gave a broad outline at a programme held here in Clifton. Scores of volunteers of the new party, including women and children, were also present.

Clad in a white shalwar-kameez, Mr Kamal delivered an emotional speech, informing the audience that the national flag would be the flag of his party as “no constitution could bar me from waving the country’s flag”.

“We haven’t finalised the party flag yet,” he said. “We will make one [flag] to merely fulfil the requirement of the Election Commission of Pakistan, but we will give our workers only the flag of Pakistan.”

He asked his supporters to accept and respect their political opponents. “We will not allow any further division in Pakistan.”

Then he drove straight to the Quaid’s mausoleum to offer Fateha.

He told reporters there that the first public meeting of his party would be held on April 24 at Bagh-i-Jinnah — a park opposite the mausoleum of the Father of the Nation.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2016