Daily Times

According to a report, the recent elections were quite advantageous for Balochistan, as a number of local political parties have come to the forefront, as well as a record number of independent candidates, that are determined to restore democratic principles in the province. The Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) won the highest number of seats, and other local parties like the Balochistan National Party (BNP), Balochistan National Party Mengal (BNP Mengal) and National Party (NP) joined them in the provincial assembly, which some have called the first Balochistan centred political coalition in history.

The victorious BAP is led by the current Chief Minister of Balochistan, Jam Kamal, however their victory was marred by allegations of rigging. Some polling stations, especially in Mekran, posted numbers that far exceeded the number of people in those constituencies, while many others were informed that their votes were registered in Punjab or Sindh, robbing many long-time residents of the province a chance to vote. Coincidentally, many of these issues were found in areas supporting BNP and BNP Mengal, and it raised the question whether there was some collusion going on in the background to help the BAP win.

Despite these accusations, the parties of Balochistan came together to support the BAP, and heads of all opposition parties consulted with Jam Kamal after his victory was announced. They talked about the historic problems facing the province, especially the issue regarding missing persons. This issue was raised once again, in the first session of the National Assembly (NA), by SardarAkhtar Jan Mengal, who pointed out that there were over five thousand cases of missing persons in Balochistan, many of whom were innocent people going about their lives. Chief Minister Kamal assured Mengal that he would do everything in his power to solve this problem, yet it remains to be seen whether he is true to his word in this regard.

The issue of missing persons was raised in the first session of the National Assembly, by Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal, who pointed out that there were over five thousand cases of missing persons in Balochistan. Chief Minister Kamal assured Mengal that he would do everything in his power to solve this problem, yet it remains to be seen whether he will be true to his word in this regard

The people of Balochistan have been looking for restitution after years of being disenfranchised and the new government offers them some respite. Previous governments did nothing in their entire five year tenure, except for the last few months before elections, yet that was not enough to convince the Balochi people that they deserved their votes. Even today the province does not have a dedicated Cancer hospital, along with lacking everything from schools, infrastructure and good governance. Many locals even refused to participate in the last elections, saying they would only vote if they were treated like actual citizens of the nation, and not as outsiders.

In the end, the new government has a lot of new faces, with many of them having distinguished backgrounds. Yet this was the case with the last government as well. Many of them also boasted of having degrees from prestigious universities and led commendable and fruitful lives, commanding respect from their communities and society as a whole. Yet the game of politics is a complicated one and it can lead many a good people astray. There is increasing corruption and malpractice in politics today, many people in Balochistan believe that nothing will change, even with a new party in power, and new faces in parliament. Only time will tell whether the new government can break the mould, and bring about actual change in the province in the next five years.

The writer is a teacher at DELTA in Turbat. He can be reached at alijanmaqsood17@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, September 10^th 2018.