KARACHI  -  The Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) on Sunday decided to stage a million march in the city against non-provision of facilities to Karachiites.

The party leadership has asked its cadres to initiate an awareness campaign to motivate the masses to the march.

Although PSP Chairman Mustafa Kamal did not announce any date for the million march, he said while addressing party workers on Sunday that issues of the city could be resolved in 20 minutes if one million people take to the streets on a specific day on his call.

“The PSP has got the muscles to take to the streets and stage a demonstration,” he said.

He said the PSP would not retreat from its 16 demands at any cost and would not repeat the politics of their former party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

“I am not doing any politics here. I just want that Karachi and its people should be given their due rights,” he said. “We will refrain from violent activities and set a precedent of peaceful protests, as we believe that this is the right way,” he said.

Speaking on negotiations with the government on issues facing the city, Kamal said that PPP’s negotiators wanted them to end their protest on verbal assurances, but they refused to do so and asked them to initiate work on these projects to make them end the protest.

Interestingly, he has also demanded powers for the Karachi mayor, a position held by MQM-Pakistan’s Wasim Akhtar at the moment.

“The Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) and Master Plan Department should be handed over to the mayor,” he said, adding that the mayor should be empowered and given charge of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) and the Karachi Development Authority (KDA).

Kamal demanded that roads and hospitals should be placed under the city government and that district and union council chairpersons should be transferred resources.

The PSP chief also demanded that work on the K-IV project should be initiated immediately.  On Friday, on the ninth day of the protest, several activists and leaders of the party joined the protest camp outside the Karachi Press Club.  Talking to the media, PSP leader Dr Sagheer Ahmed said that they would not end their sit-ins until the government gives assurance about implementing their agenda and starts action on it.

“Our demonstration will continue until the provincial government starts providing facilities to people. It is not only the Sindh government, we have issues with the centre as well," he said.

The PSP leader said they had staged the sit-in after due consideration and soon they would announce their next course of action.

He said the level of the party’s movement would go high with the every passing day and the struggle would go on until “we pull off our assignment”.

He warned that all negotiations would be in vain if the government fails to take practical measures to address the city's issues. He said the party was looking forward to talks, but would take to streets if the negotiations fail.

In a related development, Sindh Minister for Transport Nasir Hussain Shah said while talking to the media that he did not want to create a controversy through his statements, but the PSP protest was nothing more than a point-scoring event. “I am part of the negotiating team therefore cannot speak more than this,” he said.