QUETTA: With the support of opposition parties, disgruntled members of the ruling Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) tabled a no-confidence motion against Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani in the provincial legislature on Wednesday.

Speaker Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo, who was presiding over the assembly’s session called by the governor to discuss the no-trust motion, fixed October 25 for voting on the motion after completing a debate.

While speaking on the motion, Chief Minister Alyani announced that he would not resign and would face the no-trust motion in the assembly. “I will prefer to fight against the no-trust motion even if two members remain with me,” he said.

Provincial Minister Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran presented the no-trust motion in the house in the presence of 33 members from BAP and the opposition parties.

In a house of 65, motion is backed by 33 MPAs

On Tuesday night, the opponents of Mr Alyani had claimed they enjoyed the support of 40 members in a house of 65. They said that 36 members had attended a dinner hosted by Speaker Bizenjo.

A sitting minister, Noor Muhammad Dummar, and Syed Ehsan Shah were said to have joined the disgruntled group before tabling of the no-trust motion in the house. However, when the no-trust motion was presented in the house only 33 lawmakers were present there.

Five members of the group, including Akbar Askani, Lala Rasheed and Ms Bushra Rind, were absent from the session.

An opposition leader, Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, alleged that their five supporters were being pressurised by the government to quit the group and announce their support for the chief minister instead.

But Lala Rasheed later reached the assembly while the members were discussing the motion, and declared: “I was not feeling well; that is why I am late in coming to the assembly,” he said on the floor of the house.

He supported the motion against the chief minister and clarified that neither had he been kidnapped nor detained.

Speaking at a press conference after the session, members of the disgruntled group of lawmakers announced they would not leave the assembly premises until all their supporters joined them.

“We will stay in the assembly until Oct 25, when voting will be held on our no-trust motion as we don’t feel safe outside these premises.”

Mr Buledi and Asad Baloch expressed fears that members of their group might be kidnapped or detained before the voting on the motion.

While speaking on the no-confidence motion, its movers said Chief Minister Alyani had failed to resolve the problems faced by Balochistan and its people.

Sardar Khetran said his group had respect for Mr Alyani and therefore would not want him to be ousted from the position of chief minister of the province. He said he wanted Mr Alyani to resign from the position instead.

He said that five lawmakers supporting the motion were missing, which was not a good omen. He demanded that these legislators be brought to the assembly and allowed to express their views without any pressure.

He reiterated that the chief minister had failed to resolve the issues being faced by the people of the province. The situation prevailing in the province had forced his group to take the step of tabling a no-trust motion in the house.

Opposition leader Malik Sikandar Khan also expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the chief minister and said that during the last three years Mr Alyani had targeted the opposition parties through his “policy of discrimination”.

He said that if five missing legislators were not brought to the house, the opposition would launch a protest against the government.

Responding to the allegations levelled at him by the members of BAP and the opposition parties, Mr Alyani briefed the house on “his achievements”.

He said an unseemly incident happened on the occasion of budget session that should not have happened. He also revealed the reasons why even some friends became angry with him.

He said that he had met those members and heard their grievances. Their problems would be resolved, he said.

He said his government was the first one in the last 70 years that had launched a massive development programme in the province. He pointed out that he was elected the leader of the house by 41 members, including from allied parties. He would quit the moment he realised that he had lost the confidence of these members.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2021