Forming government in Balochistan

Sharply contrasting the contention besetting the May 11 elections the process of government formation is going apace with astonishing ease - except for the province of Balochistan where it is most urgently needed. Of course the government formation at the Centre and in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh was no big issue given the fact that polls have thrown up clear winners. However that was not the case in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa where the mandate is fractious, with no party having won clear majority to form government.
The others in the field - particularly the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) - accepted the Tehreek-e-Insaf's right as the highest scorer to form the government. In Balochistan too, the polls didn't give clear majority to any of the contending parties - although the elections were participated by all the parties. But it was not something entirely unexpected, given that no tribal chief would like to be lost in the sea of commoners by compromising his prominence as member of an elected house. In the initial stages there too it looked all set that a coalition led by PML (N) and joined by the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and the National Party (NP) was in the making. But soon enough a vicious power struggle broke out within the PML (N), forcing Nawaz Sharif to look for other options, leading him to find NP's Dr Abdul Malik Baloch for chief ministership of Balochistan. But as these lines are being written the jury is still out on the question as to who would be next chief executive of the province.
At the end of the day it won't matter who is the chief minister of Balochistan; what matters is his/her performance as the chief executive of the province and how much effective is he/she in obtaining friction-free, productive relationship between Quetta and Islamabad. That the Centre is unconcerned, if not absolutely oblivious, about the lingering plight and deprivation of the people of Balochistan has been the lingering grievance of the people and leaders against the federal government. And this has been the case - even if the suspected foreign intervention to muddy the Baloch waters is conceded. But in the wake of May 11 elections a strong possibility has materialised to bridge the yawning gap of misunderstanding between the Centre and Balochistan. The credit for this goes to the political parties of the province who decided to be part of the democratic elections, no less equally to Nawaz Sharif also who is all out to create conditions conducive to smooth centre-provinces working relationships. He wants Dr Abdul Malik to be the next chief minister, surrendering his party's right to form the government.
Since no one in Quetta would like to miss the bus, formation of government as such is no big deal. No wonder the pro-Zehri elected members are dropping hints of forming government in coalition with JUI (F), PML (Q) and others. The deal has to be creation of effective working liaison with Islamabad. And that's now a real possibility with Nawaz Sharif heading the federal government. It's indeed a measure of his statesmanship that he is asking the NP man Dr Abdul Malik to form the government instead of his party man. Should that be the final outcome there is every reason to hope that the best possible relationship would be established between Quetta and Islamabad. And that's need of the hour, like never before. There is this economic corridor offer made by China which has all the potentialities of opening up Balochistan for rapid economic progress. But this is only possible if there is effectively working relationship between the provincial and federal governments - and this is what brings Nawaz Sharif in this picture.