Causing stir in the Balochistan cabinet
Balochistan cabinet comprises strange bedfellows. It consists of Baloch and Pushtun nationalists and elements of traditional power brokers. The Baloch nationalists come mostly from Makran Division, the only area where tribalism with its primitive socio-political adjuncts is in the main non-existent. The literacy rate here is higher than in the Baloch tribal belt and a small but vocal and socially effective middle class has emerged comprising doctors, teachers and government servants. The Baloch nationalists practice secular politics instead of relying on tribal or religious appeals. This brings them closer to Pushtun nationalists belonging to PKMAP and ANP. The Pushtun nationalists in the province share some of the characteristics with Baloch nationalists. They too belong to middle class, which besides producing professionals is also involved in business and trade. Despite their support for Pushtun claims, which are seen by the Baloch nationalists as unrealistic, they feel comfortable with the Baloch. They too are secular and eschew slogans appealing to tribal or religious sentiments.
The traditional power-wielders in Baloch areas comprise tribal chiefs who have dominated the provincial assembly in the past. Except for a handful of Baloch tribal chiefs, the vast majority has a primitive mindset. They insist on privileges that they claim as their birthright. They have rivalries with one another and are frequently involved in blood feuds. They are prone to changing loyalties and support any party in power provided it is willing to maintain their traditional privileges and allows them full freedom as ministers to misuse provincial resources and provide benefits to relatives, cronies and hangers on. They have recently found shelter in the provincial PML-N which is led by Sardar Sanaullah, a typical tribal chief who had fought for but failed to get the office of chief minister.
The present rift in the cabinet has not been caused by political differences but a sense of being deprived of power and privileges among the tribal chiefs. The provincial PML-N and its allied parties’ members maintain that they have not been given enough powers to run their departments. They are using minor issues to justify the impending break up. Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti complains he was not invited to the meeting on law and order, presided over by prime minister in Quetta recently. Further that minister for planning Hamid Khan Achakzai, was taken to a fishermen convention in Gwadar while adviser to chief minister on fisheries Haji Akbar Askani of PML-N was not invited. A number of PML-N ministers and advisers and those in the allied parties have announced their decision to quit the provincial cabinet unless their grievances are redressed. The ball is now in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s court. He has to decide whether the province has to have a clean government or is to return to the Raisani era.