Former president and chief of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), General (R) Pervez Musharraf has expressed his wish to become the joint president of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP).
According to media reports, MQM leader Khawaja Izhar held a meeting with Musharraf where he was told by Musharraf that MQM is not left with any prominent personality in the wake of the minus one formula and the party needs a popular leader to foster its roots in the masses while presenting himself as a suitable personality for the purpose.
Musharraf said that if he were to become MQM leadeer it would greatly benefit the party since he was popular among the masses and could utilise this platform to make major contributions.
During the meeting, the former president also expressed his idea of a merger between PSP and MQM and offered to take responsibility for getting PSP to accept MQM in its fold.
According to reports, supporters of Musharraf tried to contact PSP chief Mustafa Kamal but he could not be reached.
PSP leaders, however, told reporters, “Whosoever wants to join PSP can do so, however, neither do we need any Quaid-e-Tehreek nor do we need to merge with any party.”
He would never want to. You think he will head an ethnic party with a label of Bhatta Khors, target killers and Land-grabbers ? He, personally, has been charged with score of labels but NOT corruption like Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif.
It is a fact that cleansed of some undesirables within its fold, MQM Pakistan is now a far better political party. However, unfortunately, the establishment still has its over-focus on the party in lieu of militants. The reason could be that it is much easier to 'score victories' against the party which offers no physical resistance as compared to tackling militants and terrorists who are claimed to have already killed 60,000 Pakistanis apart from doing $ 100 billion damage to the economy, and have still not called it a day. Though badly bruised, they are nowhere near crippled.
At the same time, Peoples Party seems to have dropped all pretences and has started a no-holds-barred operation against MQM on many fronts, seeing it as the only hindrance to its own expansion, whereas the real causes for its sorry state are PPP's astronomical corruption and bad governance.
However, there are signs that having failed in its attempt to eliminate MQM altogether, the establishment is now prepared to make a compromise, involving unification of various MQM factions under Gen. Musharraf's umbrella in order to make it acceptable.
Now, while the plan may not be an ideal one but if it can make life easy for MQM Pakistan members, results in the unification of various factions and gives a strong voice to the true representatives of urban Sindh, it could be good for the people of Sindh as also for the country.
Surely, with a better option available, continuing the struggle just for the sake of struggle, and giving more sacrifices which could be avoided, would hardly rank as a sensible choice.
The plan sounds a bit outlandish but that is all right because after all, we are talking about Pakistan where strange things can keep happening as a routine.
Karachi
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