PPP forms 4-member committee to woo Akhtar Mengal

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has formed a four-member committee to hold talks with Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) President Akhtar Mengal.

According to a statement issued by Bilawal’s political secretary Jameel Soomro, the committee will comprise Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, Farhatullah Babar, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Khursheed Shah.

The committee will hold discussions over Mengal’s six-point agenda, agreement over which is vital to win support of the BNP-M chief. A meeting is likely to take place on Friday but there has been no official confirmation.

The six-point agenda includes recovery of missing persons, implementation of the National Action Plan, implementation of six per cent quota for Balochistan in the federal government, immediate repatriation of Afghan refugees and the construction of dams in the province to resolve the acute water crisis.

Mengal had agreed to become a government ally only after the PTI promised to implement his demands but has voiced discontent over the lack of action. He had formally complained about the non-implementation of the six-point agreement in a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan in March this year.

PTI also constituted a three-member delegation on Wednesday to oversee the implementation of Mengal’s agenda after he issued a covert threat to abstain from voting on the federal budget.