PkMAP’s Achakzai no longer in the race for NA speaker.
As former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Saturday, prime minister-in-waiting Nawaz Sharif set a two-point criterion for the prospective Balochistan chief minister: enjoy the support of the PML-N and its allies, and have personal relations with Baloch separatists.
The former premier is eyeing a portfolio in the centre and is also pushing the name of his cousin Jan Jamali for the slot of Balochistan chief minister.
According to senior PML-N officials, Jamali has also offered to take up the role of National Assembly speaker.
With a total of 12 elected candidates, the PML-N now stands as the largest party in Balochistan, while National Party (NP) and PkMAP have nine seats each.
For the past two days, Nawaz has been busy shaping the broad contours of a government in Balochistan and conducting interviews of candidates in this regard.
According to details, five groups within the party are in the race for the slot of chief minister. The first group is led by Sanaullah Zehri, who had an audience with Nawaz and claimed that he enjoyed the support of allied parties and a majority of MPAs within the party. He said he would reconcile with BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal and would bring all Baloch separatists to the negotiating table.
Mir Changez Khan Marri, who leads one of the five groups, is also vying for the CM portfolio and is using his relationship with Baloch groups as his selling point. He told Nawaz he would bring his brother Harbiyar Marri on the negotiating table and would also use his ties with Sardar Akhtar Mengal. He said the Marri and Mengal tribes could lure Brahamdagh Bugti for negotiations as well.
According to party officials, if Changez is picked by the PML-N, Zehri is likely to quit the party.
Meanwhile, Jan Jamali, who leads another group, is also campaigning for the job. The fourth group is led by PML-N’s former provincial president Sardar Yaqob Khan Nasir, while the fifth is led by Haji Lashkari Raisani.
NP chief Dr Abdul Malik has offered his service to the PML-N, in case it does not find a suitable candidate within the party for the CM slot.
Meanwhile, the PML-N is said to be no longer considering PkMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai for the post of National Assembly speaker. The party has been advised to pick a more trustworthy man for the job.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 26th, 2013.
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Independent MNAs must remain independent as they received the votes on their personal standing ( which may be against PML(N) candidate) . Later Joining the PML (N) is a cheating with the voters and they should be forbidden by law to join any other party post election.