QUETTA: As two more legislators ditched Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri on Friday, clouds of uncertainty enveloped the current democratic dispensation with Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Senate deputy chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri casting doubts whether the election of the upper house of parliament would be held as scheduled in March.

The political crisis that unfolded last week after some legislators submitted a no-trust motion against CM Zehri deepened to such an extent that the ruling party in Islamabad now believed that it would impact not only the Senate election but also the current set-up.

State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry went one step further when he alleged that former president Asif Zardari Zardari was “investing” money for the dissolution of the Balochistan Assembly.

Both Talal Chaudhry, the state minister for interior, and Maulana Haideri, felt that the political crisis in Balochistan might extend to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh — where the PTI and the Pakistan Peoples Party respectively are at the helm — in order to stop the upcoming elections for the upper house of parliament.

Minister-turned-detractor Sarfaraz Bugti says number of MPAs backing no-confidence motion against CM Zehri has reached 26

And without mincing words, Maulana Haideri told newsmen in Parliament House that the “troika” of Mr Khan, Mr Zardari and Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Allama Tahirul Qadri wanted to topple the government before March.

Interior Minister Iqbal vaguely referred to hidden forces for “creating a situation” in the country in which no one was sure whether the Senate election would be held in March or not.

“Though we are hopeful that the PML-N will complete its constitutional term, the overall situation of the country remains a matter of concern,” he said. “Resignations and sit-ins are against the interest of the country in the prevailing situation,” he told DawnNews.

In Islamabad, the senate deputy chairman told newsmen that he did not see Senate elections in March if change came in Balochistan. “The matter can move towards Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for preventing elections in the Senate.”

A government-allied senator belonging to the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) alleged that some “unelected forces” were behind the ongoing crisis and that his party lawmakers had received phone calls threatening them to support the no-trust motion, or face dire consequences.

Senator Osman Kakar of the PkMAP said in Lahore that “our MPAs Sardar Mustafa Khan Tareen from Pishin and Obaidullah Jan Babat from Loralai have received calls from some specific numbers asking them to support the motion of no confidence”.

He condemned the threats made to his party’s MPAs, and termed it an assault on the democratic system.

Two more quit Zehri-led cabinet, join opponents

In the new dramatic development, the only woman minister in the provincial cabinet, Rahat Faiq Jamali, and adviser to the chief minister on excise and taxation Mir Abdul Majid Abro of the PML-N quit their posts and sent their resignations to the governor.

The CM had appointed Mr Abro only two days ago in place of Mir Amanullah Notezai of the PML-Q who had been sacked for signing the no-trust motion submitted to the assembly secretariat on Jan 2.

Ms Jamali is younger sister of former chief minister and Senate deputy chairman Mir Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali.

The movers of the motion claimed that more resignations were in the pipeline.

“More resignations of ministers belonging to the PML-N and other parties will be coming soon,” former home minister Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti said, adding that the number of legislators supporting the no-trust motion had reached 26.

The chief minister continued his meetings with Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai, MPAs belonging to the PkMAP and National Party and PML-N ministers and advisers throughout the day on Friday, and they assured Mr Zehri of their full support.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2018