QUETTA: Former chief minister of Balochistan Nawab Sanaullah Zehri and former federal minister retired Lt Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch, who had quit the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) after the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) public meeting here in October last year, have decided to join the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) along with their supporters.

This was announced at a meeting held on Tuesday and attended by like-minded political leaders, tribal elders and supporters of Nawab Zehri and Qadir Baloch.

“We have consulted our people and like-minded political and tribal friends and with their consent decided to join the PPP on the invitation of the party leadership,” Mr Baloch said.

Nawab Zehri, speaking through video link, said: “We do not take decisions in closed drawing rooms. We take decisions after consulting our people and link-minded friends.”

Nawab Zehri, who was president of the PML-N’s Balochistan chapter, had left the party when he was not invited to the PDM public meeting by the party leadership after Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal told the PDM leadership that if Nawab Zehri was invited at the stage, he would not attend the rally.

Qadir Baloch quit the PML-N while opposing the narrative of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz against the army chief and armed forces.

Published in Dawn, EOS, June 16th, 2021