KARACHI: Faced with internal crisis and groupings, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan suffered another setback on Wednesday when in less than 10 days its fifth lawmaker — a member of the National Assembly from Karachi — quit the party and joined the Mustafa Kamal-led Pak Sarzameen Party.

MNA Muzammil Qureshi, elected from NA-253 (Gulshan-i-Iqbal) in the 2013 general election, is the latest addition to the PSP after three women legislators — MPAs Naila Munir, Naheed Begum and MNA Dr Fauzia Hameed — and Waseem Hussain, one of the two MNAs of Hyderabad, quit the MQM-P last week.

Mr Qureshi has been in parliamentary politics since 2008 when he was elected a member of the Sindh Assembly from the same Gulshan-i-Iqbal area. Until Tuesday, he was considered to be a part of the Dr Farooq Sattar-led PIB group of the MQM-P.

He told a press conference at the PSP headquarters that a power struggle within the MQM-P had begun after Feb 5 which caused utter disappointment in party workers.

MNA Muzammil Qureshi says infighting within Muttahida alienating workers

In a thinly veiled reference to a speech of Bahadurabad group’s convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, he said the MQM-P was always known for the respect women got there, but “today the situation has reached to a point that our ladies are being discussed instead of raising real issues of the people”.

He, however, maintained that he with other likeminded people wanted to strengthen Dr Sattar, who he said was a “victim” of the Bahadurabad group.

Accompanied by PSP president Anis Qaimkhani and other senior leaders, MNA Qureshi said that he had decided to struggle for the solution of the people’s basic problems from the PSP platform.

He also urged the MQM-P workers to join the PSP instead of confining themselves to their homes because of the split in their party. He also asked Dr Sattar to join the PSP as that is where he would get respect.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Qaimkhani once again invited Dr Sattar and Dr Siddiqui of the PIB and Bahadurabad groups to become part of his party and work together for the betterment of the people of Karachi and Sindh.

Another MQM leader quits party

MQM-P leader Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani announced on Wednesday that he had parted ways with the party.

In an audio statement, he said he had been associated with the MQM since 1985. However, the differences that cropped up during the past two months made him frustrated.

He said there was a time when discipline was the hallmark of the party, but in the Senate elections “a few assembly members sold their conscience” because there was no one to stop them.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2018