Larkana ex-MPA joins PML-F, shaking GDA alliances

Sardar Moazzam Ali Khan leaves GDA to strengthen Functional League under Pir Pagara

HYDERABAD:

In what appears to be a defection by a political figure within the allied parties of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), ex-MPA from Larkana Sardar Moazzam Ali Khan Abbasi has joined Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F). The F-league's Chief Pir Pagara Syed Sibghatullah Shah Rashdi, who also heads the GDA besides being the spiritual leader of Hurr Jamaat, announced the joining at a press conference on Monday.

"Abbasi sahib had planned to join PML-F a long time ago but I urged him to consult his family and friends because they might have become upset," said Pagara while tacitly referring to his alliance's General Secretary Dr Safdar Abbassi who also heads Pakistan Peoples Party-Workers. Abbassi, whose wife Naheed Khan was closest aide of PPP's chairperson and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, is also paternal uncle of Moazzam.

The Abbasi family of Larkana had for decades remained loyal to the PPP. Moazzam's father late Munawwar Ali Abbasi alias Haji sahib was close to PPP's founding chairman and ex-PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, holding positions in the district council and later in the Sindh Assembly to which he was elected five times from 1988 to 2008 as a PPP candidate.

The family, however, parted ways with the PPP and in 2014 Dr Safdar formed the PPP-workers. In 2018, Moazzam contested against the PPP's candidate in Larkana on the GDA's ticket and he emerged successful on a constituency of Sindh Assembly. But more than the GDA, he obtained electoral support from the Larkana Awami Ittehad (LAI) which was headed by his father as convener until his death.

"I would never like to see any ally in the GDA to loose its leader to the PML-F," said Pagara while reiterating that ample time was given to the family to thoroughly considering Moazzam's decision before leaping ahead. He recalled that some political figures within the alliance used to think that Pagara might quit the GDA but he said he used to tell them that he would be the last person to leave.

"And I later proved that and the critics themselves left the alliance and joined the PPP where they are no longer receiving respect." Commenting on the last general elections in the country, Pagara said the election results were bought off ahead of the polling day. "We further realised it when the officers stopped attending our calls. Some people had also told us to stop having much hope from the elections because even if we had won the pollings, the result would not have been in our favour."

He predicted tough economic days ahead because the uncontrolled inflation will soon take even the vegetable prices to those of meat. "You will see people think either they should buy vegetables or meat because the prices of both will become equal."

Commenting on his joining, Abbasi observed that the GDA is an alliance which was formed in 2017 but it is not a party. "My today's decision taken in view of the fact that Sindh needs an alternate political platform and it's only the functional league which can play that role." He equated the PML-F to the engine of a train and other allies in the GDA as the bogies, explaining that a stronger engine will lead to improved performance.