MQM Reunited.

Weeks of speculation and discussion surrounding MQM-P being reunited under one banner were finalised on Thursday. The official announcement of Mustafa Kamal's Pak Sar Zameen Party and Dr Farooq Sattar's MQM Restoration Committee being subsumed into the banner of MQM-P indicates that the political leaders of the various factions are looking to strengthen the Mohajir vote bank and their own power base in the lead up to the next general elections. Karachi's politics have featured MQM as an important player for decades, but the infighting and division have undoubtedly led to the erosion of popularity for MQM leaders as a whole. Add this to the fact that there are still sections in the electorate that support the estranged MQM founder Altaf Hussain, who calls for a boycott of most electoral contests, the party has seen its support base fractured with PTI making inroads into Karachi as a result. A simple joining of forces might not be enough to win over voters...