Govt decides to resolve BNP-M’s gripe

By Ali Imran

ISLAMABAD: After BNP-M President Sardar Akhtar Mengal announced his party’s withdrawal with the ruling coalition, the federal government on Thursday decided that it would reach out to the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) to address their grievances.
According to sources, the government’s negotiation team, on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan, will hold a meeting with representatives of BNP-Mengal and remove their reservations. The Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP) day before yesterday had announced to part ways with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led (PTI) coalition government after remaining part of the coalition for around 2 years.
This was announced by BNP-Mengal chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal during the National Assembly session here in Islamabad. “I am officially announcing that our party is separating itself from the PTI government, said Akhtar Mengal. The BNP-Mengal chief said that he will remain a part of the National Assembly and keep raising their problems in the lower house of parliament. Last year, Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) and the government come to an agreement, as the latter accepted all of the six points put forth by the opposition party.
According to an agreement, the govt announced to increase the quota of government jobs for Balochistan to 6 percent. A committee had been formed on the issue on missing persons and some progress will be witnessed on the matter soon, the minister said. The tube-wells in Balochistan will be run by solar energy, while the electricity will be provided on subsidy to the province, Khattak said. It must be noted that the BNP-Mengal and PTI had signed a six-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) in August 2018 for an alliance at the Centre. The BNP-M has four seats in the National Assembly.
Earlier, The Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP) on Wednesday announced to part ways with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led (PTI) coalition government after remaining part of the coalition for around 2 years. This was announced by BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal during the National Assembly session here in Islamabad. “I am officially announcing that our party is separating itself from the PTI government, said Akhtar Mengal. The BNP-M chief said that he will remain a part of the National Assembly and keep raising their problems in the lower house of parliament. Last year, Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) and the government come to an agreement, as the latter accepted all of the six points put forth by the opposition party.
According to an agreement, the govt announced to increase the quota of government jobs for Balochistan to 6 percent. A committee had been formed on the issue on missing persons and some progress will be witnessed on the matter soon, the minister said. The tube-wells in Balochistan will be run by solar energy, while the electricity will be provided on subsidy to the province, Khattak said. It must be noted that the BNP-M and PTI had signed a six-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) in August 2018 for an alliance at the Centre. The BNP-M has four seats in the National Assembly.
Moreover, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) President Asif Ali Zardari and Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal, whose party parted ways with the PTI-led federal government today, held a telephonic conversation on Wednesday. The top political leaders of their parties discussed the strategy adopted by the federal government to tackle COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The two also discussed issues pertaining to locust attacks and rising poverty in the country. Speaking during the telephonic conversation, Akhtar Mengal said that the country needs political leaders like Asif Zardari. “Negligence on part of country’s leaders is complicating the situation with every passing day,” he said.