BA speaker leaves for Quetta to talk with BAP dissidents

CM Kamal remains adamant that he won’t step down

ISLAMABAD/QUETTA:

Balochistan Assembly Speaker Abdul Quddus Bizenjo on Friday left Islamabad for Quetta to hold talks with the disgruntled members of the ruling party amid a political crisis brewing in the province with calls for resignation of Chief Minister Jam Kamal growing.

He was accompanied by former chief ministers Jan Muhammad Jamali and Sardar Saleh Bhootani.
During their meeting with the disgruntled members of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), the future course of action would be chalked out.

CM Kamal, however, remains adamant that he would not step down. “I won’t leave my post on the demand of 12 people,” he told a private TV channel.

He claimed that all BAP members and its allies were supporting him except a few, who had tendered their resignations to the Balochistan governor.

“We are trying that the ministers withdraw their resignations,” he added.
“If they don't, we would have to appoint new ministers.”

In the wee hours of Thursday, a group of provincial cabinet members met Balochistan Governor Syed Zahoor Ahmed Agha and handed over their resignations to him to mount pressure on Kamal to step down.

Balochistan CM should ‘step down’

They included Provincial Finance Minister Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, Provincial Food Minister Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran and Provincial Social Welfare Minister Mir Asad Baloch; advisers Akbar Askani and Muhammad Khan Lehri; and parliamentary secretaries Bushra Rind, Mahjbeen Sheeran, Lala Rashid Baloch and Sikander Umrani.

The governor on Friday accepted their resignations.
On Thursday, the opposition parties in the Balochistan Assembly demanded that Kamal should resign now that he had lost the confidence of his ministers and advisers.

Balochistan National Party (BNP) leader Sana Baloch said the united opposition parties (UOP) in the provincial assembly had agreed that Kamal no longer had the right to rule the province after the development.

He was speaking to the media after a delegation of the UOP met with former Balochistan chief minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani.

The delegation, led by opposition leader Malik Sikandar Khan Advocate, called on Raisani at his residence and discussed the political situation in the province, especially after the resignation of provincial ministers.

Sana said that an unconstitutional government has been formed in the province.
"What is the point of convening a meeting of the Balochistan Assembly under Article 130 (7) of the

Constitution in which the chief minister casts a vote of confidence?” he questioned.
“If the chief minister does not attend the meeting, he will automatically lose confidence and will not hold the post anymore.

Earlier, a group of BAP’s disgruntled members and some from its coalition partners in the provincial government had given the chief minister a deadline till 5pm on Wednesday to resign from his post.