A file photo of Balochistan assembly. PHOTO: NNI/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
As the government contemplates lifting the Governor Rule in Balochistan, independent lawmakers are gearing up to form a new bloc in the provincial assembly to elect an interim chief minister.
A meeting between members of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and independent lawmakers is due in Quetta on Wednesday (today) to form a group ahead of the general elections, sources said.
The meeting will be held at the residence of MPA Jaffar Khan Mandokhel, an affluent provincial politician and former finance minister.
In the wake of January’s bomb attack on the Hazara community in Quetta, the federal government sacked chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani and his cabinet and imposed Governor Rule in the province. It now plans to restore the provincial government to fulfil formalities of installing a caretaker government before dissolving the provincial assembly.
Under the law, the interim chief minister is to be elected through consultations between the chief minister and the leader of the opposition in the provincial assembly.
Around 19 MPAs were elected on the PML-Q ticket in the last elections. Although PML-Q won most seats in the provincial legislature, its members sided individually in small groups with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, helping them form a government.
An attempt is being made to unite these 19 members and some independent lawmakers to form a strong group, which if succeeded, would attempt to elect the new chief minister.
In order to elect a new chief minister the support of 33 members will be needed. Jafar Khan Mandokhel told The Express Tribune that he was hopeful that a new group of ‘clean’ politicians will emerge to lead the province before and after the general elections.
Mandokhel said that Raisani and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazalur Rehman had an understanding that before the elections, JUI-F would quit the government and get its own leader of the opposition elected.
He said the proposed group will not only play an important role in the remaining term of the assembly, but will contest the elections as an alliance. “We are sure we will be fielding at least 22-23 sure winning candidates in next polls. We will also make seat adjustments with nationalists at the local level,” he said.
Choosing a league
Mandokhel was not clear if the proposed new group would be contesting elections on the platform of PML-Q or PML-N. PML-N is already in contact with different Baloch nationalist parties for an electoral alliance.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 20th, 2013.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ