Ahead Of Local Govt Polls, Kamal, Sattar Announce Merger With MQM-P

Ahead Of Local Govt Polls, Kamal, Sattar Announce Merger With MQM-P
In a much anticipated move, Mustafa Kamal – PSP chairman and Farooq Sattar – founder of the MQM Organisation Restoration Committee, announced their merger with the MQM-Pakistan, on Thursday.

While addressing a presser at the MQM-P headquarters in Bahadurabad, Karachi, Kamal said the party will be led by Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.

The PSP chief was flanked by Farooq Sattar, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Amir Khan, Anis Kaimkhani, Waseem Akhtar, and Nasreen Jalil on the occasion.

A day earlier (Jan 11), MQM-P staged a power show in Karachi against the local government elections on ‘current delimitation’ and threatened to part ways with the ruling coalition if the polls were still held.

The local government elections are scheduled to take place on Jan 15 in Karachi, Hyderabad and Thatta.

On the factions uniting, Kamal said they had their differences which they openly expressed during talks prior to the merger.

He, on the occasion, took both the PTI and PPP to task, saying they hadn't done anything for the city.

The PSP chief asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to either 'take a clear stand' with regard to the rights of people of urban Sindh or let the party "decide about its future" as a member of the PDM coalition.

Speaking on the occasion, Farooq Sattar said, "We have kept all differences aside. We are presenting a united MQM."

Terming 'political maturity' the need of the hour, he said, "We have to let go of the past.”

On the forthcoming local government polls, he said, "MQM will stage the biggest sit-in. We will see how the Jan 15 polls will take place."

While responding to political rivals, Sattar vowed "zero-tolerance for crime, violence, and militancy in the city."

Khalid Maqbool, in his remarks, said the party would take part in LG polls only if delimitation was "fixed" by tonight. "Otherwise, we will fight for our rights."

Last month, the MQM-London rejected any unification efforts aimed at implementing a "minus-Altaf" formula.

The faction, however, refrained from speaking about who was behind the efforts to bring them to one platform.

They asked Chief of the Army Staff General Asim Munir to play his role in the removal of a 'ban' on the activities of the party.