KARACHI: The two groups of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan have failed to stop the party’s lawmakers from defecting to the Pak Sarzameen Party as another member of the Sindh Assembly joined the Mustafa Kamal-led party on Wednesday.

With the latest addition of MPA Syed Anwar Raza, elected from PS-102 constituency that comprises Buffer Zone and parts of Federal B Area, the strength of the PSP in the Sindh Assembly has reached 14. The party also enjoys support of five MNAs.

As rumours do the rounds about an imminent change of Khwaja Izharul Hasan as the leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, PSP chairman Kamal told a press conference that “right now we are not aiming at replacing the opposition leader”.

“We will unconditionally support him [Khwaja Izhar] if he plays his role honestly ... but he has to do his job,” he added. Inviting his “confused friends” in the MQM to become part of his party, he said that people from other parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party, would join the PSP in the coming days.

Kamal censures K-Electric

Accompanied by Mr Raza, PSP president Anis Qaimkhani and other leaders, Mr Kamal lashed out at K-Electric for carrying out up to 14 hours of loadshedding in the city.

Referring to the MQM-P, he said that those who claimed to have 85 per cent mandate of Karachi did not lodge even one serious protest for the solution of the city’s civic problems.

He asked the people of Karachi to get ready to launch a protest against K-Electric.

Speaking on the occasion, MPA Raza said that he decided to quit the MQM-P because it had become a party of “vested interests”. He said he was joining Mr Kamal because he believed that Mr Kamal was the one who could make this city a better place.

Besides Mr Raza, around 40 office-bearers and workers of the MQM-P also announced that they were joining the PSP.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2018