Formed in: March 2016

Officially established on March 23, 2016, the Pak Sarzameen Party is a splinter of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

Top PSP leaders

• Mustafa Kamal
• Anees Qaimkhani
• Raza Haroon
• Anis Advocate
• Dr Sagheer
• Waseem Aftab

Key concerns

• Good governance
• Economic revitalisation
• Education
• Accountability
• Nationalism

2013 elections

For the July 25 polls, PSP has fielded candidates from 54 NA seats — out of these, 34 seats are from Sindh, six from Punjab, five from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, six from Balochistan, two from Fata and one from Islamabad.

2018 manifesto

PSP Manifesto English 2017 by Dawndotcom on Scribd

Major political plays

• A former mayor of Karachi and once blue-eyed boy of MQM supremo Altaf Hussain, Mustafa Kamal announced the formation of PSP in a dramatic press conference following his return to Pakistan after a self-imposed exile that lasted almost three years. His speech in Karachi's posh DHA neighbourhood on that day marked the first time a former member of the party publicly lambasted the MQM as well as Altaf Hussain.

• Since the inception of PSP, dozens of MQM leaders and scores of workers have joined the MQM offshoot, including MNAs and MPAs. PSP leaders also claim to have organisational units across the world, including in the UAE and US.

• Kamal also invited senior MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar and other MQM splinter groups to join PSP after the MQM completely dissociated itself from London-based supremo Altaf Hussain over his anti-Pakistan remarks. Sattar declined the offer.

• In November 2017, leaders of PSP and MQM-P said they were joining hands and will contest the 2018 elections under "one name, one manifesto, one symbol and one party". The alliance did not last beyond a few hours and later on Kamal claimed it was brokered by the establishment. Subsequently, Sindh Rangers Director General Maj Gen Muhammad Saeed clarified that the military establishment had not supported any particular political party in Karachi and that the armed forces had no part to play in the formation of an alliance nor the subsequent breakup between MQM and PSP.

• One of its most prominent protests is an 18-day-long sit-in outside the Karachi Press Club in April 2017, during which the PSP demanded the provision of basic civic facilities for Karachi, including uninterrupted electricity, water and gas supplies. PSP leaders later staged what they called a "million man march" but reporters said the turnout was unimpressive. Kamal was arrested during the demonstration but was released later on.

Controversies

• From the very start, critics of the PSP have dubbed the party as a puppet of the establishment. On several occasions, Kamal has said that the army had a role in shaping Karachi's politics. He had also stated that he was in touch with the military establishment over political matters, and defended his decision by saying that he was meeting with the Pakistani establishment not the Indian establishment. Kamal has also said that the establishment's involvement was in large part owed to its belief that Altaf Hussain was an agent of Indian intelligence agency RAW.

• Even though PSP at first said it will not play politics based on ethnicity, its leaders have still tried to appeal to the Muhajir identity during his 2018 election campaign.

References: Dawn.com | Dawn | PSP