QUETTA: The month-long political crisis in Balochistan further deepened on Tuesday when Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani denied he had resigned as president of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).

In another development, the BAP secretary general appointed angry Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi as acting president till intra-party elections.

Mr Alyani, while talking to reporters at Chief Minister House, said: “I’m still president of the party and have not submitted a formally written resignation. I just tweeted I had resigned, but not formally. I will complete my constitutional term as president of Balochistan Awami Party.”

He claimed that he had expressed his desire to resign from the post of BAP president but at the request of friends he now withdrew the resignation.

CM Alyani said Zahoor Buledi was appointed BAP’s acting president by the secretary general, and not the party. “The appointment of acting president by an individual has no legal justification,” he said, adding that he would work as president till new party elections expected to be held by the end of this month.

Mir Buledi appointed acting president till intra-party elections

Provincial ministers Nawabzada Tariq Magsi, Mir Arif Muhammad Hasani, Mir Ziaullah Langove, Haji Mitha Khan Kakar, Sardar Sarfraz Domki and Haji Muhammad Khan Tor Utmankhail, parliamentary secretaries Dr Rubaba Buledi, Sardar Masood Luni and Khalil George Bhutto, senators Anwarul Haq Kakar and Prince Agha Omar Ahmedzai and former minister Mir Faiq Ali Jamali were present on the occasion.

CM Alyani claimed that he was enjoying the support of majority members in the assembly, adding that negotiations were under way with the angry members and soon the issue would be resolved. He said that if the 14 legislators who had signed the no-trust motion against him showed their majority in the house, he will accept the majority decision.

He claimed that differences among the party members had been removed and the BAP would emerge as a strong political party.

“It is our desire to bring all party members to one page,” the chief minister said, adding that he had good wishes for angry members of the party.

Claiming the support of majority members in the house, he said he was grateful to the friends who reposed confidence in him. He said he would run the party affairs till the next elections in a democratic way. “I try to take things in a positive way, but some people in the party have some misunderstandings which I am trying to remove.”

Mr Alyani said it was not a big deal to hold a party meeting if angry members agreed to join it. “We would sit together and talk, but the angry members have sidelined the party. It is a party platform where all decisions should be taken,” he said, claiming that all members of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, except one, were supporting him.

In reply to a question, Mr Alyani denied he met PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, saying no such meeting was held in three to four years, but all of them are respectable for him. “In politics we listen to each other and our party is intact and united and will be stronger in the coming days,” he added.

Meanwhile, BAP secretary general Manzoor Khan Kakar in a letter informed the Election Commission of Pakistan about the appointment of Zahoor Buledi as acting president of the party.

According to the letter, a meeting of the Balochistan Awami Party was held under the chairmanship of founding member Saeed Ahmad Hashmi. The party’s divisional organisers drew the attention of the meeting to the fact that intra-party elections should be held after the resignation of Jam Kamal Khan Alyani. And for this purpose appointment and nomination of the acting president is necessary so that arrangements for the intra-party elections could be made in a better way.

The letter said that after mutual consultation, MPA Mir Zahoor Ahmad Buledi had been appointed as acting president of BAP.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2021