KARACHI: After a gap of about seven months, one more lawmaker belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement quit his party on Wednesday and announced that he was joining the Pak Sarzameen Party.

Sheikh Abdullah, who was elected an MPA from a provincial assembly constituency (PS-97) in Gulshan-i-Maymar in the 2013 general elections, told a press conference held at Nishtar Park that he gave 30 years to the Altaf Hussain-led party, but now he was leaving it because he did not want to be called “a traitor to the country”.

Besides Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MPA Hafeezuddin, he was the sixth MPA of the MQM, who left his party and joined the PSP.

Asif Hasnain is the only MNA who joined Mustafa Kamal’s party after the Aug 22 incendiary speech of MQM founder Altaf Hussain.

Mr Abdullah had left the country for the United Arab Emirates about a year ago when certain detained MQM activists implicated him during questioning by joint investigation teams in many acts of violence in the city.

An MQM-Pakistan source said that the party had requested the powers that be to allow him to return to the country, but they made it clear that he would be arrested upon his return.

Terming him a “senior, hardworking and brave” worker, who was in constant touch with the party leadership while living abroad until recently, an MQM spokesman said: “We don’t know the reasons or whether he was pressured to quit the party. We want an immediate end to the practice of switching loyalties under pressure.”

Accompanied by PSP chairman Mustafa Kamal and other party leaders, Mr Abdullah said that he had considered joining the PSP for the past 15 days but was worried about his livelihood, which he said solely came from his MPA salary.“But Anis [Kaimkhani] Bhai told me to have faith in Almighty Allah.”

He said he was also resigning from his assembly seat and would work for the PSP as a worker.

He said he was not pressured to take this decision.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Kamal said that many MQM lawmakers were in touch with him and another MPA, Khalid bin Wilayat, was also with the PSP.

He said the PSP would hold a workers’ convention at Nishtar Park on Thursday (today) to celebrate Pakistan Day and the first anniversary of the party.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2017