Delicate balance: Pakhtuns expect fair share of power in Balochistan

By installing elder son of Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri as chief minister, Nawaz can reach out to Baloch militants.

ISLAMABAD:

One of the critical issues that the next provincial set-up in Balochistan will have to face in the coming days is the appointment of an ethnic Pakhtun as governor, according to the central general secretary of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Akram Shah.

“Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, along with the National Party (NP) and PkMAP, which has emerged as the largest Pakhtun political party in May 11 elections, will have to address many critical issues including the fair division of political and administrative power amongst the two largest ethnic groups: Baloch and Pakhtuns,” Shah told The Express Tribune.

Constituting half the population of the province, Pakhtuns expect one of the top positions—either governor or chief minister– to be handed to a person representing their community, he said.

“We demand an equal share with Baloch people in all the political and administrative matters of the provincial government,” Shah said. Other ethnic groups should also be given their due share, according to him.



One of the strong contenders for the office of chief minister of Balochistan, Nawabzada Jangayz Marri from PML-N, admitted that all ethnic groups should be given a fair chance to represent the province. “PML-N will recognise the rights of Pakhtuns in power sharing,” Jangayz said, adding that other marginalised ethnic groups will also get justice.

The PML-N leadership seems to have struck off the name of its provincial party president Sardar Sanaullah Zehri’s from those vying for the post of chief minister. The move comes after reservations were expressed by the PkMAP and NP leaders during their recent meeting with Shahbaz Sharif in Quetta.

With Zehri out of the race, Jangayz Marri and Jan Muhammad Jamali are jockeying for support within the party to clinch the chief minister’s post. While Jan Jamali does not have the backing of his party’s top leadership, his close contacts with the establishment and civil bureaucracy may help him land one of two top offices in Balochistan.

NP president Dr Abdul Malik is another potential aspirant for the top slot of the province. He is backed by the PkMAP and his own party against the PML-N contenders.

Malik may enjoy a fair reputation of being highly credible but his chances to get a heads up from PML-N are bleak. Accepting a contender from a junior coalition partner party may cause unrest among the PML-N’s provincial legislatures. Another potential hurdle for Malik could be the fact that he is not a tribal chief.

PkMAP and NP might not be the only reasons that Zehri is out of the race for the provincial top slot. Sources reveal that being a bitter enemy of Sardar Akhtar Mengal, who is chief of his own faction of Balochistan National Party, Zehri’s appointment as chief minister could torpedo Nawaz Sharif’s efforts to bring Akhtar Mengal and other Baloch nationalist parties into the mainstream.

However, by installing Jangayz Marri, the elder son of Baloch separatist leader Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, as chief minister Nawaz Sharif could reach out to the Baloch militants including his two exiled younger brothers for peace talks.

Political observers say that Jangayz , with his influential family background, could prevail upon Baloch militants including his brothers and bring peace to the province. He could also be acceptable for Akhtar Mengal, whose exiled younger brother, Javed Mengal is leading a banned militant outfit known as Lashkar-e-Balochistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2013.