KARACHI: A former senior bureaucrat and a well-known fashion designer were among over a dozen noted persons who joined the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan on Sunday.

Former Karachi Port Trust chairman Javed Hanif, fashion designer Deepak Parwani and others announced joining the party at a press conference held at a playground adjacent to the MQM’s temporary headquarters in Bahadurabad.

It appears that the entry of new people has boosted the confidence of the beleaguered MQM-P and its chief Dr Farooq Sattar as he claimed at the press conference that the dream of his opponents had been shattered as his party was attracting common people and members of civil society.

The MQM-P has been marred by reports of internal differences as well as frequent change of loyalties by its lawmakers. Only last week, another MQM lawmaker, Mehmood Adbul Razzaq, quit the party and joined Mustafa Kamal’s Pak Sarzameen Party at a public meeting in Samaro.

Accompanied by Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar and those who joined the party, Dr Sattar said senior MQM leader and former Hyderabad mayor Aftab Ahmed Shaikh, who had been inactive in the party for over a decade, also rejoined the MQM-P.

He said that the MQM was going to approach the Election Commission of Pakistan and the speaker of the national and Sindh assemblies to unseat all those lawmakers who had switched their loyalty and announced quitting the MQM, but still enjoying pay and perks.

“By-elections should be held on these seats. We have no dearth of people and God willing we will get tremendous success in the by-elections,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Hanif said that the MQM-P was an asset to Karachi and the only guarantee to the development and progress of this city and the province.

Mr Parwani said that he decided to join the party to play a role in resolving numerous issues of Karachi.

Others who joined the MQM were: businessmen and industrialists Khurram Rasool, Alamgir Feroz, Tofiq Kochinwala, Imtiaz Ali, Haresh Mangna, Mussarrat Naveed, Farhan Chishti, Dr Salman Khan, Sohaib Ahmed, Farooq Dadi, member of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Saman Ali Abbasi and TV host Nadia Ali.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2017