MQM-P’s Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani joins PSP

KARACHI: Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani, yet another member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has joined the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), Geo News reported.

Qaimkhani formally announced his decision earlier today at a press conference with PSP chief Mustafa Kamal at the Pakistan House.

“We are not here for any personal gain,” Kamal said while addressing the media. “The reason for our struggle is to improve the living conditions of the people,” he said.

Lashing out at the federal and provincial governments over gas and electricity load-shedding, the former Karachi mayor asked Syed Murad Ali Shah, the Chief Minister of Sindh, to take suo motu notice of the prolonged and unannounced power cuts in the city.

Stressing that Karachi is the backbone of Pakistan, the PSP chairman requested that electricity be provided to the metropolis. “The country will collapse if Karachi stops functioning.”

“There is no such thing as governance in the country,” he added.

Qaimkhani — a former Sindh minister for excise and taxation — is the first member of MQM-P's Bahadurabad faction to have joined the PSP.

Qaimkhani quit the MQM-P days after Mehboob Alam, along with MPAs Saifuddin Khalid and Muhammad Kamran, defected to the Mustafa Kamal-led party.

Prior to that, on April 4, MQM-P lawmaker Muhammad Muzammil Qureshi, who belonged to the Farooq Sattar-led faction of the MQM-P, joined the PSP.

On April 1, Waseem Hussain, MQM-P MNA from Hyderabad, announced his decision to join the PSP, whereas, on March 29, MQM-P MNA Dr Fouzia Hameed announced the same.

Before the aforementioned, two female provincial lawmakers of MQM-P — MPAs Naheed Begum and Naila Munir — had jumped ship on March 28.