ISLAMABAD: A day after Balochistan National Party-Mengal announced to part ways with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led ruling coalition at the Centre, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani on Thursday held an important meeting with BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal amid the reports that the federal government was relying on chairman Senate to win back the support of its disgruntled ally.
The chairman Senate went to meet the BNP chief at his office where both held a detailed meeting. Although, Sanjrani remained tightlipped and did not share with the media, the details of the meeting, Mengal held a brief media talk.
"He (Sanjrani) is not from the PTI. He is from BAP (Balochistan Awami Party) and he is chairman Senate who hails from Balochistan. He wanted to know about this problem, so he came here to meet me. I made it clear, our party has a stance and we took a decision based on that stance. It is for our party institutions to withdraw from this decision. I alone cannot make decisions. The ball is in the court of the rulers. Talk to them why they have not solved these problems till date. If they have, to what extent, and if they haven't, who is responsible for that?" he asked.
Reports suggest that Prime Minister Imran Khan has formed a government committee to hold dialogue with the BNP-M, and address their concerns. The committee comprises Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Planning Minister Asad Umar, and Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak, tasked to reach out to BNP-M leadership.
"I am officially announcing that our party is ending its alliance with the PTI. We will stay in the Parliament and will keep talking about issues," Mengal said on the floor of the House at the National Assembly session earlier on Wednesday.
In August 2018, before entering into alliance at the Centre, the BNP-M and the PTI had signed a six-point agreement, which the BNP-M alleges the PTI has not honoured.
The six points included: Recovery of missing persons, implementation of the National Action Plan, implementation of six per cent quota for Balochistan in the federal government, immediate repatriation of Afghan refugees, and construction of dams in the province to resolve the acute water crisis.
The strength of the PTI-led ruling coalition in the National Assembly was 186 seats, which has been reduced to 182 seats with the exclusion of four BNP-M seats. The ruling coalition still enjoys a majority in the National Assembly. In 342-seat NA, 177 seats are required to attain simple majority to form government.
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