News Analysis |
The political atmosphere in Baluchistan has been very peaceful for the past whole year but it was the calm before the storm. Members of the provincial assembly of Baluchistan moved a motion of no-confidence against the Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri.
Baluchistan is already facing a huge number of external and internal threats; a political vacuum is the last thing the province needs.
Reports suggest that the tensions have been building for the past few days. This development began a few months before the general elections. The reasons stated by the aggrieved lawmakers are that the CM failed to address their issues and didn’t allocate enough from the budgets to their constituencies.
The motion was submitted by former speaker Baluchistan Assembly Abdul Quddus Bizenjo of PML-Q and Agha Raza of Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen under Article 136 of the Constituent Assembly. Bizenjo also raised the objection that after his resignation the speaker, Zehri did not consult his party, PML-Q, before the appointment of the next speaker.
The coalition government will most probably survive this challenge because it holds the majority but it has to keep in mind that the only way for a coalition government to survive is to bring all stakeholders on the table.
Following this development, two disgruntled ministers of the ruling party itself resigned. Sarfaraz Bugti, Home Minister; Mir Chakar Dhomaki, Minister for Fisheries, all gave their resignations to the CM and the governor. Bugti said that his conscience didn’t allow him to be a part of the government that failed the people. It is interesting to note that his conscience didn’t fail him when hundreds of people died in terrorist attacks in Baluchistan.
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Four of the disgruntled MPA’s belonged to JUI-F, a long-time ally of the ruling party PML-N. The PML-N leadership is likely to approach the JUI-F leadership about the issue. In the midst of the crisis, the allies of the ruling party PKMAP and NP jumped into the government’s support. PKMAP’s chief Mehmood Achakzai offered his unconditional support to the CM and assured that he’ll ask his MPA, Khalid Langove, about his signature. PML-N claims to be the largest democratic party of Baluchistan with 21 MPA, but claims and facts are two different things.
Bizenjo also raised the objection that after his resignation the speaker, Zehri did not consult his party, PML-Q, before the appointment of the next speaker.
The political turmoil in Baluchistan seems to be part of a bigger game. 11 PML-N senators shall be retiring in March. PML-N does not have a majority in the Senate; it only has 21 out of the 65 senate seats. A strong government is needed in Baluchistan to win back those seats. In this regard, this crisis in Baluchistan will affect the party on the national level. The leader of PML-N, Nawaz Sharif, has formed a committee to appease the aggrieved MPAs. The committee is headed by PML-N Senator Raja Zafarul Haq and comprises of Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique.
Read more: Is Baluchistan in Pakistan or…?
The coalition government will most probably survive this challenge because it holds the majority but it has to keep in mind that the only way for a coalition government to survive is to bring all stakeholders on the table. Baluchistan is already facing a huge number of external and internal threats; a political vacuum is the last thing the province needs.