Sardar Akhtar Mengal, leader of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), said at a press conference in QUETTA, stressing the ECP’s constitutional duty to hold elections following the government’s term of office.
At a press conference in Quetta, he said that he was looking forward to the ECP carrying out its constitutional obligation. Former party parliamentarians Malik Naseer Shahwani and Akhtar Hussain Langove from the Balochistan Assembly joined the BNP at the ceremony, which was also attended by Raja Jawad Advocate and others.
Mengal stated that the government’s term has ended constitutionally, making it the ECP’s job to announce the election date. In response to questions concerning BNP’s stance on former Balochistan CM Mir Quddus Bizenjo, Mengal blamed the party’s current discontent with Jam Kamal Khan’s unyielding leadership.
He drew parallels between the “Jam era” and the rule of Musharraf, citing the use of armoured vehicles against assembly members during the budget session at the Balochistan Assembly. In defence of his vote for Quddus Bizenjo, Mengal cited the maltreatment of MPs, particularly women, under Kamal’s leadership as the motivation for his stance.
Mengal spoke about the state of law and order in Balochistan, bringing up the problems that arise during elections when candidates have trouble getting to their districts to cast their ballots. A representative was elected with only 25 votes in some of the cases he recalled.
Mengal complained that although though the census was carried out without incident, the ensuing distribution of resources did not reflect the rights of the people.
Mengal voiced his exasperation by focusing on a recurring theme: Balochistan’s rulers keep making empty promises of prosperity while showing an inability to understand the region’s specific difficulties. He maintained that the cycle of terrorism would continue until the province received its fair share and legitimate rights.
