KARACHI: Former Balochistan chief minister Jam Kamal has supported PPP’s demand to announce the election schedule during a meeting with the party’s leader, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

Mr Kamal, considered a key political stakeholder of Balochistan, on Monday met the PPP chairman at Bilawal House to “address the uncertainty” and the challenges which are “beyond the capacity and mandate of the caretakers”.

This was the first time that the demand for polls’ schedule was made by senior leaders from Balochistan, along with “concerns” over the uncertainty surrounding the voting rights of the people.

Mr Kamal, a senior BAP leader, was accompanied by Mir Amer Ali Khan Magsi in the meeting, which discussed the current situation, the performance of caretaker governments in the centre and provinces and the future politics, a brief statement issued by the Bilawal House said.

They also exchanged views on the current economic crisis and shared ideas on possible solutions.

Mr Magsi told Dawn the meeting covered much more than what was conveyed by the statement. “It [the meeting] was a courtesy call from Jam sahib,” he said.

“But we definitely discussed a range of issues, including the current political situation, the gigantic economic challenges and most importantly, the way forward amid all such huge crises. We also discussed the prospects of coming elections and the role of political parties.”

He hinted at an agreement between the two parties over the issuance of the polls’ schedule by the ECP, calling it “crucial” for economic and democratic stability. “We support this demand [for schedule] of the PPP, and we also discussed this issue during the meeting,” he said.

“The elections are crucial. However, we can’t debate the performance of the caretakers as they don’t have much mandate and most importantly, they aren’t capable of addressing the gigantic challenges faced by the country.”

Mr Kamal came to the national limelight in the 2013 general elections when he was elected to the National Assembly as an independent candidate from the Awaran-Lasbela constituency and joined the PML-N government as the state minister for petroleum.

In April 2018, he quit PML-N on the eve of Senate elections and created BAP. He also toppled the coalition government in the province — then led by PML-N’s Sanaullah Zehri as CM — to pave the way for the newly formed party to gain power.

He was appointed BAP’s first president and was later elected to the Balochistan Assembly in the 2018 general election. He became the chief minister in August 2018. However, after facing a months-long crisis within the party, Mr Kamal stepped down as CM in October 2021.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2023