PPP gains more ground in Balochistan

Former federal and provincial ministers among several ‘electables’ join party during meeting with Zardari

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) gained more political ground in Balochistan on Sunday with the joining of the party by several former lawmakers from the province during a meeting with former president and PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari in Karachi.

Those who joined the PPP fold were former federal minister Sardar Fateh Mohammed Husni, former provincial ministers Nawabzada Gazin Marri and Tahir Mahmood, Coordinator to Chief Minister Balochistan Nawabzada Jamal Raisani, Mir Farid Raisani, Mir Abdullah Rahaija, and Mir Allah Bux Rind.

Earlier, three former provincial ministers from the ruling Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), namely Mir Zahoor Buledi, Saleem Khan Khoso, and Mir Arif Jan Muhammad Hassani, switched sides and joined the PPP in the presence of Zardari.

Welcoming the newcomers to the party, Zardari said there was a historical relation between the PPP and Balochistan, stressing that the party had always struggled for the rights of the people of the country’s largest province. He added that the PPP would never compromise on the rights of the people of Balochistan.

Political experts believe that winds of change are blowing across Balochistan, which has been under the BAP-led government for over four years. The switching of loyalties, they said, normally takes place when “the electables” expect to get higher positions as the general elections approach near.

Elections in the country are scheduled to be held this year. And this time around, the bent is towards the PPP, which has the support in some constituencies of the province. The party had political roots in Naseerabad, Jaffarabad, Makran, Lasbela, Quetta, and other parts since its formation in the late 1960s.

Although the PPP had failed to win even a single seat in the 2018 general elections, political pundits believe the party may triumph in the upcoming general elections. A senior journalist in Quetta commented that the PPP seemed to be in a better position after the joining of electables in Balochistan.

During the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) campaign against the former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, former Balochistan chief minister Sanaullah Zehri and Gen (retd) Qadir Baloch switched sides and joined the PPP, following their differences with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

(APP WITH INPUT FROM OUR QUETTA CORRESPONDENT)