The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) suffered a major blow on Tuesday when one of its senior members, Mir Lashkari Raisani, resigned from the Senate and the party’s basic membership.
A PPP insider told Pakistan Today that Raisani, who played a pivotal role in the party’s election win in Balochistan in 2008 general elections as the party’s Balochistan chapter president, had developed differences with PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari some time ago. A source in the PPP said Raisani was all set to join the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) during Imran Khan’s upcoming visit to Balochistan and his address to a public meeting in Quetta on April 20. Raisani had been replaced with Sadiq Umrani as the president of PPP Balochistan around a year ago. Raisani, who had announced to tender resignation around two weeks ago, formally submitted his resignation with the Senate Secretariat on Tuesday. Earlier, he also held a meeting with Senate Chairman Nayyar Hussain Bukhari and apprised him of reasons leading to his decision. A close aide of Raisani said he told Bukhari that he was unhappy with the government’s response to the worsening law and order in Balochistan.
Later, Raisani told reporters that he was disappointed with the PPP’s role in tackling the Balochistan unrest. “The coalition government is neither taking serious steps for bringing peace in the province; neither have I attached hopes with parliament and the judiciary for justice.” He also expressed disappointment over the performance of his own brother, Sardar Mohammad Aslam Raisani, the chief minister of Balochistan, saying the provincial government had also failed to maintain law and order across the province.
