QUETTA - Balochistan Assembly Tuesday passed a unanimous resolution expressing confidence in the leadership of Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani. All 45 members out of total 65 present in the session voted in favour of the chief minister.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Balochistan declared the Raisani government unconstitutional, demanding the PPP central leadership to dissolve the provincial government.
After the assembly proceedings, Chief Minister Raisani said it was an historic session of the provincial assembly. He said the lawmakers would remain united like a family whether he remains in the government or not.
Raisani and his government have come under strict scrutiny recently in the Supreme Court which in overseeing a case about missing persons and state of security in the province had on October 12 declared that the provincial government had lost all authority.
The beleaguered chief minister was dealt a blow on Monday when (Balochistan assembly speaker) Muhammad Aslam Bhootani, as acting governor, recalled a notification for holding the assembly session called by the Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi, who had gone on a three-day leave.
But (deputy speaker) Matiullah Agha, acting as speaker of the House due to Bhootani’s absence, called another session for Tuesday evening while accepting a requisition carrying signature of nineteen members.
There were total 45 members, excluding the chair in the house, while nineteen lawmakers were absent from the assembly session. A resolution introduced in the house seeking confidence in the leadership of Raisani was subsequently voted on unanimously approved by members.
Minister for Industries Syed Ehsan Shah, of the Balochistan National Party-Awami, moved the resolution which read: “This august house expresses its full confidence in the Leader of the House Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani”. All the members present in the assembly stood on their seats when the chair put the resolution on vote.
Earlier nineteen members, including Raisani, tabled a resolution saying that the elected house undertakes responsibility to improve law and order situation and remove the hurdles in the way of smooth development of the province.
Almost all the members present spoke on the resolution condemning the Speaker’s (now acting governor) move to block the way for meeting of the assembly and said that the chief minister is an elected leader and if somebody does not want to see him in the office, there are constitutional ways to remove him. They vowed that any attempt to dislodge the provincial government would be strongly resisted.
Speaking to the media afterwards, Raisani thanked all those who voted for him in the assembly and lashed out at those who he said doubted a democratically elected assembly. He said his voters included members of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim Leaque Quaid, Awami National Party, Baloch National Party and independents. Asked about a plan of action, he said that he would consult other members and party workers before announcing a decision.
Then on Tuesday afternoon, the Balochistan chapter of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) declared that in wake of the Supreme Court’s order, the provincial government and the assembly were unconstitutional. The PPP Balochistan demanded the central leadership of the party to dissolve the provincial government.
President PPP Balochistan Mir Sadiq Imrani chaired the meeting of the provincial councilors in which federal minister Ayatullaha Durrani also took part. The council confirmed that party membership of Aslam Raisani had been suspended. It demanded of the governor to order election of a new leader of the House.
Addressing the meeting Umrani said that after the interim order of the Supreme Court the provincial government was unconstitutional and it had lost its trust. He said that they were ideological people and always rendered scarifies for the party. Due to some uproar during the meeting, women members boycotted the meeting in protest; however, Umrani persuaded them to back to the meeting.
The meeting also adopted different resolutions, including the one expressing mistrust on the performance of provincial government, saying latter has failed to maintain law and order due to which criminals were roaming freely in the province. Another resolution demanded the federal government take steps for the flood affectees of Nasirabad and Jaffarabad.