By Malik Siraj Akbar
It is not the sizzlers of June that have worried the Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammad Yousaf but, on the contrary, it is the rapidly growing differences inside the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, in Balochistan. Edifice of the provincial Jam-led coalition
government has begun to quiver.
There are speculations being made about an in-house change inside the Balochistan Assembly. The very exasperated cronies of CM have created an atmosphere of uncertainty for him. It is not very difficult to assess how deeply concerned Jam Sahib would presently be over the very serious growing complaints of
his own senior party members.
The recent contacts of the PML parliamentary group, headed by the party’s General Secretary, Jaffar Khan Mandokhel, with the opposition parties have greatly added to the fears of Chief Minister. Keeping all these rapid developments that are taking place on the political arena of Balochistan in mind, the possibility of replacing the Chief Minister cannot be ruled out.
Striving hard to give the senior coalition partner of the provincial government, PML, its due respect and share in decision making and equal share in the developmental
projects, the parliamentary group is currently engaged in a struggle to deter the growing influence of the ministers belonging to the Muthida Majlis-e-Amal on the Provincial Cabinet.
Jaffar Khan Mandokhel and rest of the irritated PML leaders have been grumbling that despite being the ministers and MPAs of the senior coalition partner, their decisions are not given equal importance and consideration by the Chief Minister and other ministers belonging to the MMA.
They too have been griping over not being granted an equal share in the developmental funds, as compared to the funds allocated to the constituencies of the MMA ministers and MPAs. Up till now, repeated requests have been made by the parliamentary group to the
Chief Minister to address their reservations and complaints earnestly. But the CM also appears to be unable to contain the dominating role of MMA in the provincial government.
Jam Yousaf has given nothing to his own colleagues, except void assurances. The political experts believe that he is currently between the devil and deep-sea. However, the rise of unexpected challenges has pushed the Balochistan CM in a very serious trouble.
He can hardly afford to displease his old collogues from PML. At the same time, he is, certainly, fully cognizant with the fact that displeasing the Mullahs of MMA will culminate in more dire consequences.
The very existence of his government will be in danger if he tries to tamper with the MMA leaders. Neither his government can survive without the backing of MMA nor can it last for a single day without the support of the angry members of the parliamentary group. The way forward for CM, Jam Yousaf, is very problematic. It is yet to be seen how skillfully he will meet the challenge.
Although the relations between the PML ministers/MPAs and their counterparts from MMA have been very constrained since day one, their differences were firstly exposed publicly when the senior MMA minister Maulana Abdul Wasay leveled charges of corruption on the PML ministers. This was followed by very sever and vehement reaction from the PML quarters. Their leaders expostulated very furiously and demanded of the Maulana to withdraw his remarks and tender an unconditional apology over his Press remarks. The Maulana, however, defiantly refused to comply with their demands by maintaining that what he had said earlier was absolutely correct.
Soon after the Wasay episode, the PML General Secretary Jaffar Khan Mandokhel and some other senior ministers and members of the provincial assembly formed a parliamentary group. It, they claimed, was aimed at recoding their protest over the MMA’s hegemony over the Provincial Government.
«The MMA not only has a full control over nearly all the key ministries but it has taken the whole provincial government hostage. All the developmental funds are being allocated for the development of the MMA ministers’ constituencies," remarked a senior PML leader.
His major grievance was that although the PML is the biggest coalition partner in the Provincial Government, the ministers and PMAs from this party were not being given due importance while making important financial and political decisions. "Even developmental
projects are being uplifted in most of the MMA constituencies. The MMA ministers are recruiting people on the governmental jobs by violating merit and purely applying nepotism," he complained.
The parliamentary group, led by Jaffar Khan Mandokhel, is backed by very important PML ministers and MPAs, including Mir Bakhtiar Khan Domki, Sher Jan Baloch, Mir Abdul Ghafoor Lehri, Mir Jam Mohammad Jamali, Dr. Ruqayya Hashmir, Robina Irfan, Shabir Badeni, Shah Zaman Rind and Basant Laal Gulshan and others.
In an unprecedented move, the PML parliamentary group decided to boycott the sessions of Balochistan Assembly as protest over, what it called, the `hegemonic unacceptable role’ of MMA in the provincial government. It was the very first time in the parliamentary history
of Balochistan when the ministers/ MPAs of the ruling party were witnessed staging a walk out for their parliamentary rights in such an organized manner.
They have been insisting that the CM should bring an end to the dominating role of the MMA and give the PML ministers and MPAs equal importance and attention. The CM did make opportune pledges to address all of their reservations in order to avoid any split in the ranks of the PML and prevent the Provincial Government from collapsing.
Since then, no breakthrough has been achieved to avert the growing differences and reservations of the parliamentary group. However, the gap has greatly widened and differences between the parliamentary group and MMA have mounted at a great extent. The parliamentary group has enhanced its contacts with the Baloch nationalist leaders. As a
matter of fact the Baloch nationalists and the leaders of Pakistan Muslim League share almost nothing ideologically. These meetings have greatly strengthened the media conjecture about the in-house change in Balochistan Assembly.
Jaffar Khan Mandokhel met the leader of opposition in the Balochistan Assembly, Kachkol Ali Advocate, earlier this week. Strangely, they expressed unanimity of views on several issues. In their chat with the newsmen, the leaders from two very contrasting parties and
positions accused the MMA of endeavoring to oust all the key political parities and maintaining its supremacy over the provincial politics. What Mr. Mandokhel had to say was that the resources and the funds did not belong to merely one party. But all parties should
be given their `due share’ in the developmental projects. The parliamentary group has also threatened to boycott the budget session, which is scheduled to take place on 22 June.
In order to mediate between the provincial government and the parliamentary group, Senator Saeed Ahmed Hashmi, representative of PML’s central leadership, held separate meetings with the Chief Minster and Mr. Mandokhel on 14th June. He does not seem to be in a position to resolve the matter. Because the parliamentary group has repetitively been claiming that it has no differences with the Balochistan Chief Minster. It is the MMA, they maintain, which has caused the present situation. And unless the CM minimizes MMA’s
domination and ensures an equitable distribution of resources, the members of the parliamentary group will keep boycotting the BA session.
The present turmoil is a big test of CM Jam Mohammad Yousaf’s leadership skills. It is yet to be seen how he will keep all of his coalition partners united. The Baloch nationalists are also hankering to enter the government. There cannot be a better opportunity for them than this one to oust Jam Yousaf and be a part of the Balochistan Government.
The present political standoff is not in the common man’s interest.
One wonders if this is what the common man elected these MPAs to do.
If the elected representatives of the country’s least developed
province keep squandering their precious time in accusing each other of being involved in corruption or other minor issue, will it be possible to address the more pressing issues faced by this province and its people?
It is the time all the political forces of Balochistan acted wisely.
In case of their failure to find a political solution to all the existing problems, the hawks in the federal and the provincial capital will certainly exploit the situation and derail the
democratic process by misleading the Federal Government to impose governor rule in Balochistan. It is the utmost responsibility of the government as well as that of the opposition to resolve all issues by political means in order to avoid the wastage of time. More time should be spent on legislating on issues pertaining to the common
man.
source: www.Balouch.com |
