KARACHI: Pak Sarzameen Party chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday asked state institutions to convince Prime Minister Imran Khan to hold a “grand national dialogue” with the opposition parties so that the country could move forward.

He also appealed to Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa that people of Karachi had pinned great hopes on him and that despite his visit to the city after recent rains, the situation of the metropolis had not improved.

Mr Kamal said this while speaking at a press conference held at the PSP’s Pakistan House headquarters to announce former Karachi administrator Rauf Akhtar Farooqi and some others joining the PSP.

He repeated that the country could not move forward under the prevailing conditions and there was a dire need that “politicians and institutions” sit together and take principled decisions for making a plan for the next 20 years.

He claimed that the 11-party opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement had held a public meeting in Karachi on Oct 18 in which the host Pakistan Peoples Party “misused” state resources and brought people from the interior of Sindh to increase the number of participants in the rally.

“Whereas we organised a historic public meeting on Nov 8 without any government resources at the same place.

“The PSP cannot leave Karachi like this. We will prefer to die for the sake of the city. We will soon announce our future course of action,” he said, warning the government to pay immediate attention to the people’s plight or get ready to face people’s wrath in their own neighbourhoods.

About the prime minister’s Rs1.1 trillion development plan for the metropolis, he said that Karachi did not need any package but its rights.

He said that the PPP got Rs8.3tr as part of the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award during the past decade, but the situation of Sindh, including Karachi, was in front of everyone. “PPP is responsible for the problems from Karachi to Kashmore,” he added.

He once again reiterated that the solution of the problems of Karachi lay in a transparent and correct population census, devolution of powers at the grassroots level in accordance with the 18th Amendment, formation of a provincial finance commission on the pattern of the National Finance Commission and restoration of Karachi as one district.

He said that due to the prevailing situation people belonging to the ruling parties got disappointed with them. “The PSP has emerged as the best and only political alternative for the people. For those who want to have reforms and improve the situation of the country, PSP is the only option,” he claimed.

PSP president Anis Kaimkhani and other leaders, as well as those that had joined the party, including Mr Farooqi, were also present.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2020