PTI plans to stay in Balochistan Assembly

Umar says provincial govt ‘not part of regime change conspiracy operation'

QUETTA:

The PTI on Sunday said the Balochistan government was “not part of the regime change conspiracy operation” and that was why the party would not resign from the province’s legislature.

Speaking to journalists in Quetta, party’s general secretary Asad Umar said the Balochistan government was “not an imported” one even though “it may have its own pros and cons but it is the result of the internal democratic process here”.

“Therefore we are part of the Balochistan Assembly and part of the government here,” Umar explained, adding that the federal government’s case was different because “over there, a regime change operation conspired and we refuse to be a party to that”.

A day earlier, PTI chairman and deposed premier Imran Khan had announced his decision to dissolve the assemblies in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – where his party was at the helm of affairs -- on December 23 (Friday), staking his hard-earned political ground on a bid to trigger early elections.

Responding to a journalist’s question in Quetta, Umar said that “no decision has been made” about dissolving the Balochistan Assembly.

Nonetheless, he stressed that the assemblies in Punjab and K-P would be dissolved on December 23, as announced by Imran.

In that same vein, he added that he had been directed by the deposed premier to visit Balochistan and take notice of the preparation for elections in the province.

“People are joining [the] PTI because they saw that with [the] PTI in government, for the first time an attempt was made to give Balochistan its full rights and I am very proud that when we drafted the yearly Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) two years ago, the allotted funds for Balochistan exceeded those reserved for Punjab,” he claimed, reflecting on the initiatives taken by the ousted government in uplift projects.

“Elections will be held in Balochistan in 2023 and God willing, [the] PTI will form the government here and this is Imran Khan’s promise that I communicate on his behalf that within the first year of being in government, the people of Balochistan will also benefit from the Sehat Card,” he added.

Earlier, rifts had emerged in the PTI Balochistan chapter over the issue of en masse resignations from the provincial assembly as the party appeared to be divided into two factions – one led by Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, the ex-provincial party chief, and the other by former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri.

Rind claims to enjoy the support of four of the seven PTI lawmakers in the Balochistan Assembly.

Currently, PTI Balochistan chief Suri is less influential in connection with the seven party lawmakers except for Mobeen Khilji and Naseebullah Marri, the party’s provincial ministers in the Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo-led coalition government.

“We have yet to make a decision about tendering resignations from the assembly,” Rind had told reporters in Quetta.

However, Naseebullah Marri, the PTI MPA and Balochistan education minister, had said the lawmakers would quit the assembly after the announcement of the party chief.

“We will not practice any delay if the party chief asks for resignations,” Marri had said.

Speaking to journalists in Quetta, Umar said enforced disappearances were “absolutely unacceptable”.

“When we speak of ‘true freedom’, then there is no room for enforced disappearances in that,” he added.

The PTI leader noted that this problem prevailed across Pakistan, but for the people of Balochistan, missing persons was a big problem.

“It is a fact that during Imran Khan’s tenure as prime minister, a large number of missing persons were recovered and it was unprecedented,” he claimed.

“However, it is important to nip this evil in the bud. We don’t think that further legislation needs to be drafted on this matter, but if there is a need then make new laws. However, it simply cannot be that people are picked up against the law,” he added.