Nawaz rejects Fazl’s request to join Balochistan cabinet

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has rejected repeated requests of JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman for a share in Balochistan cabinet, assuring him that he would be given two ministries in the federal cabinet and a share in committees, Pakistan Today has learnt on authority.
A three-member Balochistan cabinet had taken oath on June 19. The ministers are Sanaullah Zehri, Abdul Rahim Ziarat and Nawab Muhammad Khan Shahwani.
Despite the lapse of around three months, Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik has not been able to expand his cabinet due to differences among the major coalition partners as the lawmakers from Baloch and Pashtun ethnic groups want a lion’s share on vital and sensitive ministries.
The JUI-F has been in the Balochistan cabinet for over a decade now. Their MPAs had joined the Balochistan cabinet under the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) in year 2002. The JUI-F again joined the cabinet of Nawab Aslam Raisani after 2008 election and remained a part until the government was removed in 2012 after it failed to curb attacks of Shias.
“However, despite refusal Fazlur Rehman thinks that the Baloch and Pashtun nationalists would finally succumb due to their lack of experience, constant infighting and lack of decision-making qualities,” said a source in the JUI-F.
A source in the government said Fazlur Rehman soon after joining the federal government had time and again approached Nawaz and requested to give a share in the Balochistan cabinet.
The source added that the Baloch and Pashtun nationalists were pressing Nawaz to keep the JUI-F at bay. They also told the PM that the hardcore sectarian elements in the JUI-F were a major cause for the unrest in Balochistan.
“Dr Abdul Malik has personally conveyed the prime minister to keep JUI-F chief restricted to the federal government as his party was a major reason for unrest in Balochistan,” the source said, adding that Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai had endorsed the views expressed by Dr Malik.
The source added that Dr Malik had shared a list of proposed cabinet members; however, certain issues had also been raised by the security establishment, due to which the matter had been further delayed.
JUI-F spokesman Jan Achakzai said his party had resolved all differences with the PML-N leadership about the federal government and its two federal ministers would take oath after Eid.
“Deliberations are on within the party to shortlist its nominees for the ministries being offered. We also have been offered chairmanship of some key standing committees, including the chairpersonship of foreign relations committee of the National Assembly,” he added.
Asked about the formation of the Balochistan cabinet and the JUI-F’s bid to join it, Achakzai admitted that his party wanted to help the provincial government due to their lack of experience but the differences could not be resolved with the PML-N chief in this regard.
“We think that there is no government in Balochistan and the people of province are suffering due to bad governance. The chief minister can’t take any decision and rather looks toward the prime minister for crucial decisions due to his lack of experience and incapability,” he maintained.
Achakzai said that his party did not want to join the government only for greed but wanted to extend a helping hand to the inexperienced colleagues.
“Due to the incapability of Balochistan chief minister, Nawaz Sharif is calling the shots and the chief minister can’t take any decision,” he added.
Asked whether ethnic conflicts were a cause for lingering on the cabinet formation, Achakzai said that there were many differences.
“There is a split between the Baloch and Pashtun groups who want a major pie in the cabinet. Moreover, there is another division as nationalists do not want to allow anyone else to help them out,” he asserted.
Achakzai claimed that his leadership thought that the nationalists would not be able to run the government and the prime minister finally would seek help from the JUI-F whose lawmakers were capable and experienced enough to rid the province of the issued of violence and governance.