PML-N pockets Balochistan political gurus

LAHORE – Welcoming political heavyweights from Balochistan to the PML-N fold, Nawaz Sharif said elections must be held on time and no ambiguity be created by any side in this regard.
Senator Lashkari Raisani, the former PPP Balochistan president and brother of ex-chief minister Aslam Raisani, called on Nawaz at Jati Umra on Tuesday and announced joining the PML-N along with his associates.
Lashkari led a delegation comprising MNA Mir Humayun Kurd, MPA Haji Muhammad Ismael Gujjar, PML-Q MPA Tahir Mahmood, former MPA Mir Habibullah Shahwani, Kamran Lasani, Naveed Kalmati, Haji Abdul Qadir Raisani, Bishop Amanat Ali, Naseemur Rahman, Atta Muhammad Shahwani, Dr Barkat, Haji Atta Ullah, Nasrullah Ronjho, Kazim Shah and Qari Akhtar Kharl. The N-League is already much closer to Attaullah Mengal of BNP(M) and PKMAP led by Mahmood Khan Achekzai. With the new arrivals, the PML-N is poised to establish its political base in the ravaged province ahead of the next elections.
While interacting with the media, Lashkari Raisani came down on the current PPP leadership and said they have taken away the party from what it was envisioned by Benazir Bhutto. He said solution to crisis is always found in the democratic system and the problems facing Balochistan today could be best addressed through the parliament. On the occasion he said they have decided to join the PML-N for the sake of democracy and the federation.
Asked who he would blame for the situation during his brother’s tenure as CM, he said now the Governor’s rule exists in Balochistan, but the situation is even worse. He said prolonged dictatorship in the county is the major factor of the situation in the province.
Speaking on the occasion, Nawaz said a message of free, fair and timely elections should be conveyed to the masses. “Only democracy can guarantee the survival of the country,” he said. “The country cannot afford any further dictatorship which is dangerous for its survival.”
He said the PPP pushed the country back by 50 years and brought about a deluge of problems over the last five years. He said Zardari completed five years in the rule, but gave nothing to the nation.
Nawaz said his party would accept the PPP’s caretaker PM nominee if the candidate was found to be better than theirs by virtue of reputation and competence
“We want to have such a caretaker prime minister as can protect interests of the country best and is acceptable to all; if the government presents such a person as is better than our nominee, no objection will be raised to the government candidate,” he said.
Nawaz spoke at length on the current law and order situation in the country, with particular reference to the recent killings in Karachi and Quetta. He said the incidents showed the federal government had lost its writ and that it had no interest in protecting lives of the people. He said: “We are reaping the crop which dictators sowed in the country. The federal government is incompetent to control the situation, but is blaming others,” he said, referring to the Supreme Court decision on the Karachi unrest case.
Nawaz added that the court had pinpointed militant wings of the political parties in Sindh whose operatives were involved in terrorist activities, including those facing over 100 murder cases. “The people must ask the federal government what action it took against those militant wings. If the government’s efficiency remains the same to control law and order, Karachi-like incidents cannot be stopped in the future,” he said.
He said his party is much worried over the situation in Karachi and Balochistan and is determined to bring peace and order in these areas on coming to power. He claimed there was no problem of law and order in the PML-N rule in 1999, and when a question of law and order arose his party parted ways with its coalition partner in the Sindh government, but did not compromise peace.
Nawaz refuted Rehman Malik’s allegations that the Punjab government was sheltering terrorists. The federal government had issued thousands of prohibited arms licences to the banned outfits in Sindh and Balochistan, he said.
The same day former PPP MNA from Khyber PK, Malik Saeed Ahmad and former PPP ticket holder for NA, Misri Khan also called on Nawaz and announced joining the PML-N. The Khyber PK leaders renounced their 40 year-old affiliation with the PPP.
The politicians from Balochistan and KPK were warmly received by the PML-N leaders including Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Leader of the Opposition Ch Nisar Ali Khan, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Sardar Sana Ullah Zehri, Sardar Yaqub Nasri, Nawabazada Changez Khan Murri, Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, Ameer Muqam, Khawja Saad Rafiq, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and others.

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