KARACHI: Several members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) from Karachi, including former general secretary Sardar Abdul Aziz, have bid farewell to their party and joined Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
Taking to Twitter, Sindh Minister for Education and Labour Saeed Ghani announced that Aziz, along with several other PTI members, announced their desire to join PPP. “#WelcomeToPPPFamily,” he wrote in a message on Twitter to welcome them.
تحریک انصاف کراچی کے سابق جنرل سیکریٹری سردار عبدالعزیز نے دیگر PTI عہدیداران کے ہمراہ پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی میں شمولیت کا اعلان کردیا۔#WelcomeToPPPFamily pic.twitter.com/D4WNYHtgxV
— Senator Saeed Ghani (@SaeedGhani1) June 17, 2021
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, the Education Minister further said a press conference the results of the work that the PPP has started in Karachi “are before you”. “We have won the by-election in Karachi and increased our vote bank,” he added.
Referring to the former PTI members with him, Ghain said that they want to serve the people of Karachi. “We will reach out to more political activists through these friends of ours,” Ghani said, also sharing PPP’s vision of further strengthening its position in the city.
Referring to MQM, Ghani sought to assert that the PPP will not be following in the footsteps of MQM, which had a hold on the city for decades. “We cannot follow MQM in the massacre and unrest it perpetuated,” he added.
The provincial minister further said that from the areas where MQM used to get 80,000 votes, it most recently got only 5,000 votes. “MQM should look within after such humiliation,” he asserted.
“The record rooms of the courts are full of MQM’s deeds,” he said, adding, “The chief justice is right in saying Karachi has seen much land-grabbing.” The minister also said that once land is occupied and houses built, “it is not easy to tear them down”.
Speaking of the recent anti-encroachment action in Aladin Park, he said that the shopkeepers must be given time to settle their affairs first. “The resettlement plan should be made first and then this should be done. If things are rushed, tragedy arises,” he added.
Taking over the presser, Sardar Aziz said that there is no self-interest in the minds of PTI members who have joined PPP and only wish to serve the people. “In the last 12 years, we had no self-interest in mind when we were in PTI,” he added.
Sardar Aziz said that it was insensitive and useless people who destroyed PTI in Karachi. “PTI is limited to four or five people,” he added.