QUETTA: Parliamentary leader of the Awami National Party (ANP) in the Balochistan Assembly on Tuesday staged a walkout from the house over non-inclusion of his resolution regarding release of MNA Ali Wazir in the agenda.

When the assembly session, presided over by Speaker Mir Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali, began 45 minutes late, ANP parliamentary leader Asghar Khan Achakzai said on a point of order that he had submitted a resolution about the arrest of Ali Wazir repeatedly but it was not included in the agenda for the session.

The ANP is an ally of the coalition government led by the Balochistan Awami Party.

Mr Achakzai said there would be no negative impact on anyone if the resolution was discussed in the house. He said policemen, Levies personnel and common men were being targeted in different areas of the province and bodies were being dumped but nobody talked about the issue.

Govt ally protests against non-inclusion of his resolution about Ali Wazir in agenda

The ANP leader said that in the last session members wanted to move a resolution to express solidarity with the journalist community in the house, but that could not be moved after a member of the ruling party of the federal government pointed out a lack of quorum.

He said that the government wanted to deny freedom of the press and expression by imposing the Peca [Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act] ordinance.

He said that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had granted bail to Ali Wazir but his detention was being prolonged, registering a new FIR in Sindh on every court hearing.

“All political parties and people are showing solidarity with Ali Wazir across the country,” he said.

He said that students were disappearing from Khuzdar and Balochistan University but “we cannot talk about them”. He said Ali Wazir had lost 18 members of his family for talking against terrorism but still he had the same stand against terrorism.

After making his speech, Mr Achakzai walked out of the house as a mark of protest.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2022