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| June 18, 2005 | Saturday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 10, 1426 |
Deputy speaker decides to quit
QUETTA, June 17: Balochistan Assembly’s Deputy Speaker Aslam Bhootani has announced that he will quit his post as differences between him and Speaker Jamal Shah Kakar had resurfaced this week.
Deputy Speaker Aslam Bhootani told Dawn on Friday that he had decided to quit his office because he felt he had no say in the assembly’s affairs. Mr Bhootani said he would submit his resignation after the budget session.
“As deputy speaker, I have no say in the assembly’s affairs,” Mr Bhootani said. “In the last two and a half years the speaker has not consulted me about any decision concerning the assembly,” Mr Bhootani added.
He accused the speaker of favouritism and said he gave most of the 72 newly created posts in the Balochistan Assembly to the people of his own constituency. “Many of these people were promoted over the heads of senior people just to please his own people,” he said.
Mr Bhootani said the speaker had refused to give him a copy of the list of newly appointed and promoted employees.
Mr Bhootani said he was determined to see the list and would soon to file a petition in the high court about the matter.
Citing another reason for his falling out with the speaker, Mr Bhootani said Jamal Shah Kakar had wanted to purchase an expensive Land Cruiser. The vehicle would have cost the province Rs10 million and would have been “a big burden on a poor province”, he said, adding that the speaker already had a fleet of official vehicles.
The speaker, however, said he had decided not to buy the vehicle. Regarding the deputy speaker’s allegations about the violation of rules and regulations in the appointments on newly created posts in the assembly, he said that he had not committed any violation in this regard.
He said that the deputy speaker was his colleague and as far as his allegations were concerned, he would not say anything.
SHUJAAT SUMMONS MEETING : The president of ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain has summoned a meeting of angry group of ministers and MPAs of PML parliamentary party of Balochistan on Saturday. Mr Shujaat has taken serious notice of the differences between group of PML ministers and MPAs with the Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammad Yousuf over the domination of MMA in the provincial coalition government. The PML president has also invited the chief minister to attend the meeting he convened for the rapprochement. PML sources told this correspondent that the Secretary-General of PML Senator Mushahid Hussain contacted the chief minister and angry group, and advised them to stop controversial statements against each other as party president has decided to tackle the issue himself. Earlier, a senior PML leader Senator Saeed Ahmed Hashmi was sent to Quetta for resolving the issue who had meeting with Jam Yousuf and angry PML ministers and MPAs separately in this regard. However, the situation become more critical when angry group held its meeting on Wednesday night and demanded of the chief minister to hand over the chief ministership to MMA and take back all important portfolios from MMA for adjusting PML members.
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