KARACHI: In a thinly veiled reference to the establishment, Muttahida Qaumi Movement mayoral nominee Waseem Akhtar has said party dissidents Mustafa Kamal and Anis Kaimkhani who have been ‘brought’ to Pakistan will realise their mistake very soon.

“They have been trapped and brought to Pakistan ... let’s see how long they will enjoy their patronage,” said Mr Akhtar, while talking to the media on the Sindh High Court premises on Saturday.

The former city nazim and Mr Kaimkhani returned to the country on March 3 after a prolonged absence and levelled serious allegations against MQM chief Altaf Hussain at a press conference while announcing the launch of a political party of their own. In a tit-for-tat reaction, the MQM expelled them from the party and announced terminating their basic membership.

In an attempt to denigrate Mr Kamal’s role as Karachi nazim, Mr Akhtar, who has won the Dec 5 local government elections from Karachi East district union committee, said the development works he had carried out during his tenure was not ‘rocket science’ but the result of teamwork.

“I myself was the local government adviser [to the Sindh chief minister] and President Pervez Musharraf was providing resources to the city. Anyone in his [Kamal] place could have produced the same results,” he added.

He said the two individuals were not even politicians, as they did not have any political experience. They would soon be exposed before the masses, he added.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2016