QUETTA, Feb 14: The opposition parties in the Balochistan Assembly on Monday termed the postponement of the house's session scheduled for Tuesday unconstitutional.
Parliamentary leaders of opposition parties, Nawab Aslam Raisani of the People's Party Parliamentarians, Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal of the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami party, Mir Jan Mohammad Buladi of the National Party and Akhtar Hussain Lango of the Balochistan National Party (Mengal), speaking at a press conference, demanded that the provincial government should resign.
They said the Balochistan government had failed to solve the problems being faced by the province. They alleged that the government had postponed the session for a month to hide its failure in resolving important issues.
Mr Buladi said the government wanted to avoid discussion on the unannounced operation and establishment of cantonment in Sui, arrest of political workers, displacement of people and losses in recent floods in Makran.
"It was the responsibility of the government to convene a session of the assembly to discuss vital issues being faced by the province," he said. He said the opposition parties would soon requisition the assembly's session to discuss those issues.
He said the government had been proven corrupt and incompetent and it was unable to run the affairs of the province without receiving directives from Islamabad. He said recent floods had claimed huge losses but the government was hiding the facts.
Referring to the relief work carried out by the armed forces, he said it was the responsibility of the army to serve the people when they were in difficulty. Mr Ziaratwal said there was no justification for postponement of the session summoned by the governor.
"There is no provision for postponing the assembly session in the rules," he said. He criticized the government for reducing the size of the annual development programme from Rs10billion to Rs8 billion and termed the decision unconstitutional.
He said many Pukhtun areas were badly affected by the rain and snowfall and had no communication with other parts of the province. He said the government had done nothing to restore the communications system.
He said many deaths had been reported in different areas but the government was hiding the facts in this connection. He said many dams were in danger because their construction was substandard. He demanded an investigation into the substandard construction of Shadi Kaur and other dams.
Nawab Raisani said the rulers considered Balochistan a conquered territory. He criticized the attitude of the provincial government. He said that all the political parties were struggling for the achievement of equal rights for the province. "Unless equal rights are not recognized, the basic issues cannot be resolved," he said.
