Daily Times

This is hardly the time to celebrate what is happening in Balochistan as some sort of victory for the democratic process, as some are indeed arguing, simply because it is happening in keeping with the provisions of the constitution. The truth is that there is an ominous feeling of history repeating itself in the province. A party that was stitched up practically overnight very conveniently facilitated a coalition government for the ruling party in the centre and, as often happens over time, the usual complaints that the CM could not handle the province’s law and order situation, control prices, etc, started doing the rounds not long after the electoral cycle passed the half way mark.

This time there’s also been fake reports of Jam Kamal stepping down as both sides claim they have enough numbers for today’s no-confidence vote and the pendulum keeps swinging between here and there. Old-timers in the press have seen all this before and there is more than a little weight in their argument that such things usually start in Balochistan and then snowball all the way to the capital; and on the odd occasion have also been responsible for unravelling sitting governments.

Everything hinges on today’s no-confidence vote, of course, but Jam Kamal has already lost the trust of a very large part of his own party to stay relevant even if he survives it. For one thing, there’s not much he has to show for the last few years. And, for another, trying to pick fights and spread the blame by addressing the prime minister in controversial tweets has only stripped him of credibility. Either way, there can be no doubt that whenever such episodes are replayed over and over again in Balochistan, it is the people that suffer the most. These are even more sensitive times than usual because of all the work that is being put in to complete CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) successfully, so what is happening is not in the interest of anybody except those who do not want this country to come out of its troubles.

It seems there is no escape for this government when it comes to controversies. On top of everything else, this no-confidence vote is a completely unnecessary addition to its problems. Hopefully the situation will become a lot clearer soon enough. *