BNP-A says PM giving ‘cold shoulder' to Balochistan

Party’s MPA slams Shehbaz for not inaugurating motorways in province

QUETTA:

Balochistan National Party-Awami (BNP-A) lawmaker and provincial agriculture minister Asad Baloch on Tuesday lashed out at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for inaugurating motorways in Sindh and giving a cold shoulder to Balochistan.

“We also demand a motorway in Balochistan,” the lawmaker said as the session of the Balochistan Assembly resumed with deputy speaker Sardar Babar Khan Musakhel in the chair.

The opposition lawmakers again expressed their reservations over the passage of the Reko Diq project resolution by the provincial assembly.

“This is an attempt to usurp the rights of the people of Balochistan,” Muhammad Akbar Mengal, an MPA of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), said while speaking on a point of order.

He claimed that the treasury members had passed the resolution in the darkness of night and deceived the people of Balochistan.

However, provincial minister Noor Muhammad Dummar, who belongs to the ruling Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), replied that the House had adopted the resolution in the presence of the opposition lawmakers.

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He termed the Reko Diq settlement agreement a historic pact, which preserved the rights of the people of Balochistan.

The provincial assembly session was later adjourned because of the lack of quorum.

The debate in the assembly has come three days after the house adopted a resolution entrusting some taxation powers to the federal government in the Reko Diq project --fulfilling a pre-condition for the settlement agreement between Pakistan and Barrick Gold to proceed ahead.

On Saturday, the resolution was tabled by the Parliamentary Secretary Rubaba Buledi.The component parties of the joint opposition including the JUI-F and BNP-M staged a walkout from the House.

Amid the uproar in the House, the Balochistan Assembly deputy speaker put the resolution for voting before the lawmakers.

As there were only three or four opposition members, the House consequently adopted the resolution and delegated the taxation powers to the federal government.

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo had claimed to have taken opposition lawmakers on board in connection with the tabling of the resolution in the assembly.

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The CM said the opposition’s misunderstandings about the resolution had been removed and grievances addressed.

However, Malik Naseer Ahmed Shahwani, the parliamentary leader of the BNP-M in the Balochistan Assembly, told reporters after the session on Saturday that they had opposed the passage of the resolution.

On Friday, the Supreme Court had declared that the settlement agreement between the Pakistani government and two international companies, Antofagasta and Barrick Gold Corporation, for the revival of the Reko Diq mining project was legal.