ISLAMABAD: Balochis­tan National Party (BNP) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal called on Prime Minister Imran Khan here on Tuesday and discussed with the latter coalition-related matters.

Though there was no official word from any side about the meeting, political experts believe that the two leaders must have discussed implementation of the six-point agreement that had been reached between the BNP and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in Quetta in August last year.

The six-point memorandum of understanding had been signed by the representatives of the two parties after a marathon session between Mr Mengal and PTI vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi after which the BNP agreed to support PTI candidates for the posts of prime minister and speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

The six points included recovery of missing persons, implementation of the National Action Plan, implementation of six per cent quota for Balochistan in the federal government, immediate repatriation of Afghan refugees and construction of dams in the province to resolve acute water crisis.

Speaking at that time, Mr Mengal had said the promises made with the people of Balochistan, which had not been met over the past 70 years, were presented to the PTI. He had said that the alliance with the PTI was only at the Centre, while the BNP’s alliance with the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl in Balochistan would continue at the provincial level.

Later, Mr Mengal on a number of occasions had publicly complained that the PTI was not implementing the agreement. The BNP members sit on the treasury benches in the National Assembly, but on a number of occasions they have given tough time to the government by supporting the opposition parties on various issues, including the issuance of production orders for jailed opposition members and the alleged one-sided accountability process in the country.

In January, the BNP members even attended a meeting of the combined opposition presided over by Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif.

The differences between the BNP and PTI had surfaced in September last year when Prime Minister Imran Khan made an announcement that he wanted to grant citizenship to the people of Bengali and Afghan parentage who were born in Pakistan.

The statement had sparked a fiery debate in the National Assembly and Mr Mengal had even staged a walkout in the presence of the prime minister.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2019