QUETTA: Lobbying for the post of the leader of the opposition in the Balochistan Assembly has begun as Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party has emerged as the largest opposition party in the house with 13 seats after the election of the new chief minister.
The PkMAP decided to sit in opposition benches as it opposed Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo in his election as chief minister of Balochistan and fielded its own candidate, Syed Liaquat Agha.
It had 14 members but its MPA, Manzoor Ahmed Kakar, crossed the floor and not only cast his vote in favour of Mr Bizenjo but also joined the new cabinet.
The current opposition leader, Maulana Abdul Wasey, belongs to JUI-F which has eight members in the assembly. The BNP-Mengal, ANP and BNP-Awami are also part of the combined opposition with four seats each.
The JUI-F enjoys the support of these parties, but it needs at least two more MPAs to retain Maulana Abdul Wasey as opposition leader.
Sources said that JUI-F parliamentary leader Maulana Abdul Wasey visited the residence of former chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, who belongs to the National Party (NP), on Sunday and sought his support.
A senior NP leader confirmed the meeting and said: “JUI-F sought support of National Party for Maulana Wasey.” He said the negotiations in this regard were in progress and National Party, which has 11 members in the house, would take a decision after consulting the party leadership.
“Our doors are open for talks,” he said, adding that the PkMAP has not approached his party so far to seek its support on the issue.
However, some other sources claimed that the National Party would take decision in favour of Maulana Wasey. The National Party remained neutral in the chief minister’s election and did not support any candidate. However, its three members voted in favour of Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, who was a joint candidate of the PML-N, PML-Q and the combined opposition.
They said that the National Party had refused to vote for PkMAP candidate in the chief minister’s election.
Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2018
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