BAP cosies up to Nawaz

The Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) -- considered to be a brainchild of the ‘powerful circles’ -- has described PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s return to the country after spending four years in self-imposed exile in the UK as a positive development and welcomed his homecoming.

Senator Kauda Babar, who is also the spokesperson for BAP, said with the return of the former premier, the country would move towards political and economic stability.

He added that his party was an ally of the PML-N and would move with Nawaz in the future as well.

The BAP leader maintained that as an ally, the PML-N-led previous government helped in addressing the long-standing problems of Balochistan.

He also welcomed the former premier’s proposal to take all stakeholders on board to solve the country’s problems. Babar said BAP would not avoid any political alliance for the development of the country and Balochistan.

The BAP leader’s remarks came even though his party and the PML-N have a bitter past.

BAP was founded in 2018 by political dissidents of the PML-N and PML-Q in Balochistan. BAP’s candidate for the Senate chairman’s post, Sadiq Sanjrani, had defeated the PML-N-backed nominee despite having less number of votes on paper.

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz had even chided the PPP leadership for taking BAP’s support at a time when the two coalition partners were at odds over the position of the leader of the opposition.

Soon everything was forgotten and PML-N president and outgoing premier Shehbaz Sharif nominated BAP’s Anwaarul Haq Kakar as the interim PM.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the interim prime minister conveyed his decision to leave BAP for the sake of neutrality:
"In light of the profound responsibility entrusted to me as caretaker prime minister, I have chosen to step down from my membership in the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and vacate my Senate position," he wrote.

However, the circumstances surrounding Kakar's appointment were not devoid of controversy. The decision strained relations between the PML-N and BNP-M.

Sardar Akhtar Mengal, the head of the BNP-M, expressed his reservations on X over the PML-N's selection of Kakar as the caretaker prime minister and the perceived reliance on the support of the ‘power circles’ to address the nation's challenges.

In a letter addressed to Nawaz, Mengal lamented the trend of politicians seeking the involvement of the ‘power circles’ in resolving various issues.

Now, political commentators conjecture that the PML-N and BAP may form an alliance in Balochistan in the next general elections.