QUETTA - Former home minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti on Saturday claimed over 40 legislators of the Balochistan Assembly are supporting the no-trust motion filed against Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri.

“We have achieved the required majority and are confident that the no-confidence motion against CM Zehri will succeed,” Bugti claimed in a private TV talk.

The former home minister, a strong supporter of the no-confidence motion, asserted time would prove that they have always supported democracy in the country.

The democratic parties, however, called the motion a tug of war between the establishment and the democratic forces in Balochistan. “The forces behind the no-confidence motion against the CM have always opposed the democratic setup in the country,” said Pashtoonkhwa Mili Awami Party Senator Usman Kakar. Kakar claimed the establishment and some other elements were the architects of this whole drama of the no-confidence motion against CM Nawab Sanaullah Zehri. “We will do our best to foil this motion because the establishment wants to bring its own CM in order to sabotage the upcoming Senate polls,” Kakar averred.

As per the constitutional obligation, the opposition would require 33 votes for the victory of the no-trust motion against the chief minister, which the former home minister claimed to have achieved. The government parties, however, claimed they would foil the move.

The no-confidence motion would be tabled in the assembly on January 9, said Finance Minister and NP leader Sardar Aslam Bizenjo. He said the speaker would convene the session within a week to decide the fate of the motion.

Sardar Aslam claimed no member of NP would support the no-trust motion against the CM and pledged to foil it with majority.

“The tug of war between democratic and undemocratic forces in Balochistan is on the peak,” noted Dr Abdul Hayee, a veteran nationalist leader and chief of Balochistan National Movement (BNM). He announced Balochistan’s political parties, lawmakers and people would jointly thwart this intrigue for the sake of the democratic system.

BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal said the ruling coalition had toppled his regime in the past. He said BNP had used its democratic right to become part of the no-trust motion. He, however, stated no one has so far contacted him.

Political observers think the establishment is behind this drama against the chief minister to penalise him for standing by PML-N President and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.