Isolated Zehri throws in the towel before trust vote

• Sources say PM Abbasi ‘advised’ Sanaullah Zehri to resign to save ruling PML-N from further embarrassment 

• PML-N likely to field Saleh Bhutani or Jan Muhammad Jamali as candidate for chief minister’s office

QUETTA: Nawab Sanaullah Zehri resigned as Balochistan chief minister on Tuesday after Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi failed to contain a mushrooming political crisis in the province.

Zehri’s resignation was promptly accepted by Balochistan Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai.

According to a notification by the Government of Balochistan (Cabinet Section): “Consequent upon the resignation of the Chief Minister Balochistan, the provincial ministers and advisors to the chief minister Balochistan, shall also cease to hold their offices, with immediate effect.”

In a statement following his resignation, Zehri said that he did not wish to cause problems in the political setup of the province. He added that he was not in the habit of hanging onto power at any cost.

In wake of Zehri’s resignation, chances are that the next chief minister will also be from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), with most likely candidates being Saleh Bhutani or Jan Muhammad Jamali.

Opposition lawmakers were expected to table a no-confidence motion against Zehri in the provincial assembly on Tuesday, but sources said that Prime Minister Abbasi, after consulting his party president Nawaz Sharif, asked Zehri in a telephonic conversation from Islamabad to resign ahead of the session to spare the PML-N further embarrassment on the matter.

In the conversation with the chief minister after arriving back in the federal capital from Quetta, Abbasi told Zehri that there was no need to put in efforts for saving the PML-N government when even the party members were not on board.

Therefore, in order to avoid divisions within the party ranks and imminent ‘horse-trading’ in the provincial assembly he should leave the post before the no-confidence motion, said Abbasi.

“That is in the party’s interest,” he added.

The session had been called after 14 members of the assembly on opposition benches had filed a no-confidence motion against the provincial chief minister. The province’s lawmakers had expressed a lack of confidence in Zehri citing “unfulfilled commitments”, and important ministers and advisers had recently turned dissidents, sparking a series of resignations and sackings.

PM Abbasi advised Zehri to resign after the dissenting leaders rejected his invitations to discuss outstanding issues, sources within the PML-N told Pakistan Today.

“We have decided not to meet the prime minister,” Leader of the Opposition Maulana Abdul Wasey said on Monday, explaining that he and his followers could not “ride two boats.”

‘POINT OF NO RETURN’:

Abbasi had travelled to Quetta on Monday to meet with opposition leaders in an effort to garner support for Zehri. However, the opposition had refused to meet with the prime minister.
Some members of the PML-N, too, had refused to meet with Abbasi.

“We are at the point of no return,” Mir Sarfaraz Bugti, the former home minister for Balochistan, had said. He added, “I have a good relationship with the prime minister, but this is a political decision.”

Soon after news about Zehri’s decision to resign surfaced, Bugti said that it was a victory for democracy.

“I am grateful to Sardar Sanaullah Zehri for stepping down with grace. I am also thankful to all fellow lawmakers for making this possible. We will surely approach Sanaullah Zehri for his vote for the election of the new chief minister.

The premier nonetheless met members of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), National Party (NP) and members of the PML-N who continued to support Zehri in devising a strategy to defeat the no-trust motion.

The move to oust Zehri is not simple happenstance, but a well-thought-out power manoeuvre undertaken with one eye on the upcoming Senate elections, according to political pundits.

With 11 senators from Balochistan set to retire in March, there is an opportunity for the ruling PML-N to increase its Senate membership, where it currently only has 21 legislators out of the total 65.

To do so, however, it is imperative that the party retain its strength in the Balochistan Assembly, which will elect senators to the Upper House.

This is why recent reports of cracks forming within the party — to which Zehri himself belonged — is a major blow for the PML-N.

So far, the turmoil in the Balochistan Assembly has seen former home minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti, Sardar Sarfaraz Domki and Prince Ahmed Ali tender their resignations, with Bugti claiming on Wednesday that more will follow in days to come.

Judging by the mood setting in, it appeared Zehri found it challenging to keep his parliamentary party united. He had, however, started playing his own cards with the sacking of PML-Q’s Mir Amanullah Notezai as his special assistant on excise and taxation.