KARACHI: With growing pressure on the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government and the momentum built by the opposition parties through its no-trust move, the focus of national politics is likely to shift from Islamabad to Karachi on Wednesday with the arrival of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is scheduled to visit his coalition partners, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA).

A brief statement issued by the MQM-P said that the PM would visit its temporary headquarters in Bahadurabad to meet the leadership on Wednesday at 2pm.

Though there was no such announcement from the GDA, the Sindh leadership of the PTI said the PM would hold separate meetings with all allies of the government during his day-long visit.

“The PM is visiting Karachi on March 9 [today] to meet the federal government’s coalition partners. He will also chair a meeting of the party’s Sindh advisory council. He will also address party leaders and workers,” said party spokesperson MPA Arsalan Taj.

Apart from political engagements, the PM is also likely to distribute Ehsaas cards among the beneficiaries during his visit to the metropolis to mark the completion of three years of the PTI government’s flagship programme.

“The event will be held at Governor House. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Senator Dr Sania Nishtar will brief him on the successful deployment of anti-poverty programmes of Ehsaas in Sindh,” said a statement.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2022