Daily Times

Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal on Wednesday announced to part ways with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led (PTI) coalition government over its failure to implement accords with the party.

The federal government was dealt a blow with this announcement, which the BNP-M leader announced during the National Assembly session. “I am officially announcing that our party is separating itself from the PTI government,” said Akhtar Mengal. The BNP-M chief said that he would remain part of the National Assembly and keep raising their problems in the Lower House of parliament.

He said that his party has waited for two years but no one has bothered to pay attention to their demands despite fully supporting the government in last budget.

He said that PTI had signed two agreements at the time of government formation after the 2018 General Elections and later during the presidential elections, but not a single point of the accord was implemented.

Mengal reminded the House that his party had two agreements with the ruling party, adding that it was the Imran Khan-led party which had come to him for an alliance, not the BNP-M which went to Bani Gala – the personal residence of PM Imran Khan.

“The first agreement was done on August 8, 2018 and signed by Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Jahangir Tareen and Yar Muhammad Rind,” recalled Mengal. He added that his party had demanded that the missing persons issue be resolved and the National Action Plan be implemented in letter and spirit in the agreement.

“Can someone tell us if there was anything unconstitutional in both these demands? Why were they not implemented?” asked the lawmaker from Balochistan. He regretted that the ruling party’s mindset was “the same one running in the country since 1948”.

He added that if the government wishes to take his province along, then they should implement their agreements with BNP-M.

While highlighting his grievances in the assembly, the lawmaker stated that the foundations for the road from Chaman to Karachi were laid in 1973, and it has killed 4,500 in road accidents. He added that instead of giving them a six-lane road, the government gave them only a two-lane road.

The BNP-M leader also claimed that “no one can find justice in this country” and that “justice is being sold”. While hitting out at the government, he noted that Pakistan Steel Mills was being privatized and thousands were being unemployed.

“The disappointing thing is that no one here is ready to listen to their (the laid off workers’) demands,” said Mengal. He added that if the demands could not be met, then they should at least be noted.

“It has become a tradition here that the last government is held responsible for everything,” said Mengal. The announcement by Mengal threatens the fate of Imran Khan as prime minister as he was elected on a thin majority.

The BNP-M has on multiple occasions in the past spoken about its concerns being ignored by the incumbent government. Last year in December, the BNP-M had threatened to leave the PTI-led coalition government after Mengal held a sit-in protest at the speaker’s dais in the parliament.

Mengal had led the protest, joined by other opposition lawmakers, to condemn the arrest of four women from Balochistan’s Awaran district.

Earlier in June last year, the government and BNP-M had agreed to move forward under a six-point mechanism on the basis of which Mengal had agreed to rejoin hands with the ruling PTI.