KARACHI – Farooq Sattar and Mustafa Kamal set aside their rivalry on Wednesday to announce unification of their political forces under the banner of Meesni Qaumi Movement. However, after events on Thursday other names like Mummy Qaumi Movement and Meri Quaid Mummy were also believed to be under consideration.
The leaders of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) say that they are uniting under “one name, one manifesto, one symbol and one party,” which would jointly contest the 2018 general elections.
“Which one of us will be called Bhai will be decided in the days to come,” MQM Pakistan chief Dr Farooq Sattar said while addressing the press conference at the Karachi Press Club with PSP chairman Mustafa Kamal by his side. “We might even settle for Bara and Chhota Bhai,” he added.
“It is our job as the leaders of both parties to convey to our workers that we are doing this because we want a better future for ourselves. We want our due share in the politics of this city – and indeed this country. We want to be counted. We want jobs for ourselves to begin with, and then those that are close to us,” he explained.
Even though the name has been formalised, the modalities of the political alliance will be announced later. However, Kamal made it clear that Meesni Qaumi Movement “would be anything but MQM”.
“I am not backing down from what I stand for — we will not unite under the name of MQM. There is nothing that links Meesni Qaumi Movement and MQM,” he said.