Poll results suggest victory for Baloch nationalists

quetta

Although the Election Commission of Pakistan has not announced results yet; however, the unofficial results suggest a clear victory for the nationalist parties in the province.

The Pushtunkhwa Mili Awami Party of Mehmood Khan Achakzai has emerged as the strongest party so far, blowing a setback to the JUI-F and other rivals with 10 seats of the provincial assembly.

Similarly, the PML-N has also secured a solid position and could established alliance with the PKMAP and NP. The BNP-M of Sardar Akhtar Mengal could not secure a good number of seats and therefore, lags behind in the run for government making.

Results of the Balochistan Assembly seats are as follow: PB-1 Tahir Mehmood Khan of PML-N, PB-2 Syed Ali Raza of Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen, PB-3 Nawab Ayaz Jogezai of PKMAP, PB-4 Sardar Raza Muhammad Barech of PKMAP, PB-5 Nasrullah Zaray of PKMAP, PB-Manzoor Ahmed Kakar of PKMAP, PB-7 Ziarat Maulana Gul Muhammad Dummer of JUI-F, PB-8 Pishin Syed Liaqat Agha of PKMAP, PB-9 Pishin II Abdul Malik of JUI-F, PB-10 Pishin III Sardar Mustafa Khan Tareen of PKMAP, PB-11 Qilla Abdullah –I Dr Hamid Achakzai of PKMAP, PB-12 Qilla Abdullah—II Engineer Zamrak Khan Achakzai of Awami National Party, PB-13 Abdul Majeed Achakzai of PKMAP, PB-14 Dur Muhammad Nasir of PML-N, PB-15 Musakhel Maulvi Mazullah of JUI-F, PB-16 Lorali II Ubaidullah Jan Babat of PKMAP, PB-17 Barkhan Sardar Abdur Rehman Kehtran of JUI-F, PB-18 Sherani cum Zhob Mufti Gulab of JUI-F, PB-19 Jaffar Mandokhel of PML-Q, PB-20 Qilla Saifullah Maulana Wasay of JUI-F, PB-21 Sardar Sarfraz Domki an independent candidate, PB-22 Harnai cum Sibi Abdul Raheem Ziaratwal of PKMAP, PB-23 Kohlu Nawabzada Chengaiz Marri of PML-N, PB-24 Dera Bugti Sarfraz Bugti independent candidate, PB-25 Jan Muhammad Jamali of PML-N, PB-26 Jaffarabad—II Rahat Bibi, PB-27 Jaffarabad—III PML-N Mir Izhar Hussain Khosa, PB-28 Naseerabad—I Mir Ghafoor Lehri, PB-29 Naseerabad—II Mir Majid Abbro, PB-30 Bolan—I Asim Kurd Gailo, an independent candidate, PB-31 Bolan—II Mir Amir Rind, an independent Candidate, PB-32 Jhal Magsi—elections were postponed on account of Fateh Magsi’s murder, PB-33 Khuzdar—I Nawab Sanaullah Zehri of PML-N, PB-34 Khuzdar—II, Aslam Bizenjo, PB-35 Khuzdar—II, Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal, chief of BNP-M, PB-36 Kalat—I Mir Khalid Langov of NP, PB-37 Kalat—II Zafar Zehri of BNP-A, PB-38 Mastung cum Quetta Nawab Muhammad Khan Shahwani of NP, PB-39 Chaghi Zon Mir Amanullah Notzai, an independent candidate, PB-40 Nushki Haji Ghulam Dastagir an independent candidate, PB-41 Mir Qadoos Bizenjo, an independent candidate, PB-42 Panjgur—I and II results are still not announced, PB-44 Lesbella—I Mir Jam Kamal, PB-45 Lesbella Sardar Saleh Muhammad Bhootani, an independent candidate, PB-46 Kharan Abdul Kareem Nosherwani of PML-Q, PB-47, Washuk Mujibur Rehman, an independent candidate, PB-48 Dr Malik Kech zone President NP, PB-49 Kech—II Azeem Buledi of NP, PB-50 Kech—III, Akram Dashti of NP, PB-51 Gwader Mir Hamal Kalmati of BNP-M stood victorious.

Though no party from national level has emerged with an overwhelming majority from Balochistan, PML-N has succeeded in bagging maximum seats from the restive province of the country.

According to unofficial results, PML-N has bagged six provincial and two national seats while its arch rivalPakistanTehrik-e-Insaf has not been able to win either a provincial or national seat from Balochistan. Similarly, PPP, which obtained 12 provincial and 4 national seats from Balochistan in the 2008 general elections and formed a coalition government in the province, also could not get even a single national or provincial seat.

Interestingly, in the 2008 general elections, PML-N won only one national seat from Balochistan, but no seat in the provincial assembly. However, due to the efforts of PML-N’s central leadership, former provincial minister Abdul Khaliq Achakzai joined the party.

Later, independent candidate from NA-271, Kharan-Washuk, General (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch, and Jalawan chief Nawab Sardar Sanaullah Zehri joined PML-N, which consolidated the party.

Nawabzada Haji Lashkari Raisani who is considered one of the heavyweight politicians in Balochistan not only resigned from PPP but also quit his senate seat and joined PML-N along with his several companions.

Political observers say since PML-N’s graph was high at national level, some political leaders in Balochistan preferred to join the party, foreseeing next government might be formed by it.

PML-Q which got 18 seats in the general elections 2008 in Balochistan could only get three seats this time, according to unofficial reports. Actually, PML-Q remained unpopular in the province, which is evident from the fact that its provincial general secretary, Mir Asim Kurd Giloo, contested as an independent candidate.

In 2008, PPP formed governments at Centre and in Balochistan. It was being anticipated that PPP, being a democratic party, would take keen interest in resolving the Balochistan issue. However, with the passage of time, the situation of Balochistan deteriorated largely as forced disappearances of political activists and “kill and dump” incidents increased manifold in the province.

Apart from these incidents, kidnapping for ransom and sectarian violence mounted alarmingly, which compelled PPP to impose the governor’s rule in Balochistan and dismiss its own government.

Political observers say Balochistan, being the smallest province in terms of population, the mainstream national political parties do not focus much on Balochistan, no matter they are in government or not. That is why the national-level parties do not bag many seats from here as compared to local parties.

However, they say PML-N’s graph in Balochistan, as compared to PPP, is much better for during the last two tenures of Nawaz Sharif, Balochistan remained peaceful and calm. The remarkable victory of PML-N at the national level and also in Balochistan sparks the hope that it would make a new policy toward Balochistan as Nawaz Sharif kept on raising the issue of Balochistan and missing persons during the past five years. He has also been criticizing the use of force in Balochistan for settling down the issues.

Political pundits say PML-N, after getting outstanding majority, can play a better role in resolving the issue of Balochistan, particularly halting use of force and recovery of missing persons, which  would not only pave the way for disgruntled Baloch people to join the political mainstream but also consolidate PML-N in Balochistan in the long run. 

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