MQM launches membership drive

Karachi: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) yesterday announced the launch of an ambitious membership campaign that will span the entire country, from the urban areas in the south all the way to the north.

A party that largely represents the middle class, the MQM plans to set up camps in hundreds of cities and towns to attract ordinary citizens to its fold.

"People from the length and breadth of the country are contacting us for joining the MQM, [so] we have decided to start a membership campaign," Anees Ahmad Kaimkhani, the deputy convener of MQM's coordination committee, told a press conference.

The MQM is the third largest party in parliament after the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League. Its role is also important in that it represents Karachi, the largest city of the country and its financial capital.