March 29, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 20, 1429

QUETTA, March 28: All parliamentary groups in Balochistan have demanded that the provincial assembly be convened before April 7 to allay ‘apprehensions’ of the newly elected legislators.

A meeting of all parliamentary parties and independent MPAs was held here on Friday, under the chairmanship of Nawab Aslam Raisani, the Pakistan People’s Party candidate for the chief minister’s post. The meeting expressed concern over the delay in convening of the Balochistan Assembly session and accused some undemocratic forces of hatching conspiracy to create hurdles in formation of a new coalition government.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Nawab Raisani said that the delay in convening assembly session was creating doubts and apprehensions.

He said legislators suspected that some conspiracies were being hatched to obstruct the formation of government.

“We will jointly foil these conspiracies,” he said, adding that the meeting held on Friday had decided that the legislators would meet provincial governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi on Saturday to request him to summon the assembly by April 1.

He said that there was no justification in delaying the assembly session when all parliamentary groups had decided to form a consensus government.

When asked to name the elements hatching the conspiracies, he said: “Prevention is better than cure.”

About the candidates for speaker and deputy speaker, he said the names would be finalised in three to four days.

And the names of ministers would be decided after the election of speaker and deputy speaker.

Responding to a question, he said that during his recent visit to Islamabad, he had requested Yousuf Raza Gillani that Sardar Akhtar Mengal should be released.

He said that he had assured him that he would look into the matter.

He said the cases registered against Sardar Akhtar Mengal were fabricated.

He said that tracing the missing people would be a priority issue of his government.

He said that according to a report received by the governor of Balochistan, around 900 people were missing in the province.

Referring to transfers and postings in the province, Nawab Raisani urged the caretaker government to stop making transfers and postings.