QUETTA, Sept 4: The two members of Balochistan Provincial Assembly belonging to Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) tendered their resignations as legislators here on Monday.

The move came in line with an announcement by party chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal in this regard at a public meeting on Sunday.

The MPAs, Mohammad Akbar Mengal and Akhtar Hussain Langoo, submitted their resignations to the secretary of Speaker Jam Shah Kakar, who is currently abroad for attending a commonwealth conference.

The resignations will be forwarded to acting Speaker Mohammad Aslam Bhootani who will take a decision on them.

“The decision will be taken in accordance with the constitution,” Mr Bhootani told Dawn on telephone from his native town.

Speaking at a press conference here, BNP-M Vice President Sajid Tareen, flanked by the two MPAs who resigned, said their party had already informed the alliance of four Baloch parties and PONAM about the decision to resign from their seats in Senate, national and provincial assemblies as well as local councils.

He said Jamhoori Watan Party believed that a decision to resign should have been taken in consultation with the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD). Pashtoonkhawa Milli Awami Party said it would discuss the issue at a party meeting while National Party was of the view that resignations should be submitted collectively by all opposition parties to make them more effective, he added.

He said party MNA Abdul Rauf Mengal would submit his resignation to the National Assembly speaker while Senator Sanaullah Baloch would soon send his resignation from London to the chairman Senate.

Speaking on the occasion, Mohammad Akbar Mengal and Akhtar Hussain Langoo said they did not want to be a part of the assemblies where the atrocities against the Baloch people and their leaders could not be discussed. They said they did not want to sit in the assemblies where they could not pray for their elders.

They said they had obtained votes from the people with the pledge that their problems would be taken up in the assemblies, but the rulers gave no importance to the elected assemblies.

They said the Balochistan Assembly adopted a large number of resolutions on important public issues but Islamabad disregarded the viewpoint of the elected leaders and “threw all these resolutions in the dustbin”.

The assembly had also demanded an end to the military operation in Balochistan and resolution of all issues through negotiations, but the demands fell on deaf ears.

“All decisions are taken at the GHQ instead of the elected assemblies,” said Akbar Mengal, adding that under the circumstances they had no other option but to resign.