ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) on Friday demanded the formation of an all-parties commission on Balochistan, DawnNews reported.

Speaking to media representatives outside the Parliament House in Islamabad, PML-N member and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali said it was imperative to include disgruntled Baloch leaders into the national mainstream.

Nisar said the all-parties commission must have representation from all political parties inside and outside the Parliament.

Moreover, he supported a statement recently attributed to Yousuf Raza Gilani in which the former prime minister had said that the Parliament had “no role at present in the process of decision making”.

Nisar added that the government of President Asif Ali Zardari had gone against all state institutions.

Earlier on Tuesday, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had said that the issue of Balochistan was crucial and that those who had gone missing from the province were Pakistani citizens and it was vital to raise one’s voice for them.

Sharif had also advocated the idea of the formation of a grand alliance to resolve the Balochistan issue.

Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has been wracked by an insurgency waged by ethnic Baloch tribes seeking more political rights and a greater share of profits from the region’s natural resources.

Hundreds of people have died in violence ripping through the province since the insurgency flared in late 2004.

Scores of people are also alleged to have gone missing in the vast, sparsely populated province since then and their families have accused intelligence agencies of carrying out the abductions.

The region has also been hit by attacks blamed on Taliban militants.