October 15, 2006	Sunday	Ramazan 21, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD Oct 14: President Pervez Musharraf is likely to address a grand Baloch tribal jirga in Quetta on Nov 8, sources told Dawn on Saturday.

The two-day visit to Quetta by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, announcement of a Rs19.5 billion development package for the province and earlier arrival here of the information minister and his meetings with various stakeholders were part of the preparations to make the jirga a success, the sources said.

The president, according to the sources, would speak at the jirga about involvement of foreign elements in unrest and ask the Baloch sardars to keep vigil against those playing to the tunes of anti-Pakistan forces. Gen Musharraf would offer more incentives to the sardars for their loyalty to the country, the sources said.

The process of inviting prominent Baloch tribal elders to the jirga has begun with Prime Minister Aziz having held a series of meetings with delegations of sardars in the provincial capital.

The decision to hold a jirga to counter the one recently convened by Khan of Kalat Salman Khan was taken at a meeting presided over by Gen Musharraf in Rawalpindi.

According to the sources, a new approach has been envisaged by the federal government to tackle the Balochistan issue and end uncertainty using a multi-pronged political-cum-administrative strategy.

Gen Musharraf had given a hint to his intention to visit Balochistan and interact with the people of the province while talking to senior journalists the other day.

The tribal grand jirga convened by the Khan of Kalat had taken serious note of Jamhoori Watan Party chief Nawab Akbar Bugti’s killing, terming it a gross violation of the agreement between Baloch sardars and Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, threatening to take the centre-province dispute to the International Court of Justice. The remarks by a representative jirga ringed alarm bells in Islamabad.

The Pakistan Muslim League old guard also held several meetings and warned the government against a secessionist movement being launched using the killing of Nawab Bugti.

During the two-day meeting presided over by the president, it was decided that PML chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain should be given a chance for opening political dialogue with the various interest groups of the province and to invite their input for removing misgivings about Islamabad’s policies.

It was decided that the prime minister should take over the administrative and economic development side of the strategy and the president should continue to monitor the situation through periodic interaction with the stakeholders.

The meeting decided that the parliamentary committee on Balochistan should be reactivated and efforts made to take all the stakeholders on board in formulation of the recommendations of the sub-committee led by Senator Wasim Sajjad.

It was decided that the 31-point recommendations of the sub-committee led by Senator Mushahid Hussain about Balochistan’s demands of monetary benefits should be implemented.

Prime Minister Aziz has completed his visit to the province, reportedly meeting a record 26 delegations in two days.

Chaudhry Shujaat, who is leader of the parliamentary committee on Balochistan, on Friday met the chiefs of the two sub-committees and discussed the issue of provincial autonomy with them.

The work done by the Wasim Sajjad sub-committee on provincial autonomy was reviewed. Senator Sajjad was given the task to reactivate the sub-committee by engaging the members from the opposition.

Chaudhry Shujaat said in the meeting that greater provincial autonomy would strengthen the federation and create confidence amongst the federating units. It would lead to a smoother and harmonious functioning of the governments at the federal and provincial levels, he said.

He asked Senator Sajjad to call a meeting of the sub-committee and finalise proposals for submission to parliament about the constitutional and legal changes required. The sub-committee was expected to meet soon, the sources said.