- Lawmaker says new party is being launched using Muslim League’s mindset ‘but with a different name’
- Senator Kakar to be central spokesperson, Shoaib Nosherwani to serve as provincial spokesperson
QUETTA: Independent lawmakers from Balochistan and dissidents of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Thursday announced the formation of a new political party named Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), with the objective to contest up-coming general elections and carry out a united struggle for the interests of province and rights of people.
Among the members of the Balochistan Awami Party were provincial Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, independently elected senators and some dissident MPAs of the ruling PML-N.
Addressing a press conference, former senator Saeed Ahmad Hashmi, who had been associated with the PML-N for most of his political career, said that his associates were now working on the party’s constitution and manifesto and it would soon be made public.
Saeed Hashmi said that BAP had been formed after thorough consultation with the party members. The new party aimed to carry out a collective and unified struggle to ensure the development of Balochistan and remove its prolonged deprivation, he added.
“We are not separating ourselves from the mindset of Muslim League,” he said, adding that the new party was being launched using Muslim League’s mindset “but with a different name”.
Hashmi said that the party’s office-bearers would be announced at the general council meeting and subsequently application would be floated to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the registration of the party.
He further said that Shoaib Nosherwani would serve as the provincial spokesperson until the party election was conducted.
A 10-member committee would be constituted to conduct the party election, Hashmi explained.
Speaking on the occasion, Senator Anwarul Haq Kakar, the spokesman of the new party, said that the economic and political rights of the people of Balochistan would be the chief priority of his party and it would never compromise on either of them.
According to reports, at least 30 provincial assembly members, including the provincial chief executive, would join the party.
The announcement was expected to be made on Wednesday but was postponed over some reported leadership disputes.
It is worth mentioning that Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti had announced last week that CM Quddus Bizenjo would announce the formation of the new political party within a day or two. Bugti had told the media that he along with Bizenjo would form a new party that would be different from traditional political parties.
Bizenjo hailed from PML-Q of Chaudhry Shujaat and together with Sarfaraz Bugti, he was an ally in the PML-N-led coalition government in the province. Later, he parted ways with his predecessor Sanaullah Zehri and managed to cobble together a new ruling coalition in which Bizenjo was elected as the chief minister and he appointed Sarfaraz Bugti as the home minister.
Bugti had said that the people of Balochistan loved Pakistan and they hoisted the national flag in every nook and corner of the province.
The Bizenjo-Bugti group had emerged as a powerful political force as they also got Sadiq Sanjrani elected as the Senate chairman with the support of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI).
Earlier, CM Bizenjo and other provincial members quit PML-Q after meeting with PML-Q Chairman Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in Islamabad. The chief minister had said that he had no dispute with the party, however, a new political party was being launched in the province.
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had said on the occasion that the party’s relationship with Balochistan was strong and everyone had to work together for Pakistan.