Winds of Change
Balochistan's most picturesque spring season, with clouds from the Arabian Sea floating down the mighty mountains, flowers blooming the foothills, fruit gardens, lush green lawns and flourishing fields in the windy drizzles, has made weather mellow and pleasant. With such pleasant weather, the winds of change have also started blowing across Balochistan.
Natural weather seems to have the romance with the political weather of Balochistan. Balochistan's political weather is slowly but steadily changing with the installation of PPP-led rainbow coalition cabinet (PPP, PML, MMA, ANP, BNP and Independents), headed by PPP provincial personality Nawab Aslam Raisani. On Feb 18, 2008, Parliamentary Polls Nawab Aslam Raisani and his 10 other political partners were elected to 65-member Balochistan Assembly. PPP was in no way to form provincial coalition cabinet. This was due to the split mandate in the province with PML-Q (20) MMA(10), Independents (9), Balochistan National Party (Awami-7) ANP(3), PML(N) (1) and JUI ideological (1), returned to the 65-member Provincial Assembly on Feb18 General Elections. But soon after elections, political sagacity and magnetic personality of Nawab Aslam Raisani, brought in more than enough MPAs' support and cooperation for cobbling parliamentary partnership in the provincial assembly. Such political manoeuvering worked very well and managed formation of PPP-led Balochistan coalition government in Quetta.
Session:
Inaugural session of the Balochistan Assembly was held on April 6, 2008. At the opening session, 62 of 65 newly elected members were administered oath of office by the outgoing Speaker, Balochistan Assembly Mr. Jamal Shah Fakar. Three elected members did not participate in the oath-taking ceremony at the PA hall in Quetta for different reasons. One elected member Malik Sarwar Fakar died of cardiac arrest soon after his successful election; another Jam Yousuf former Balochistan Chief Minister, elected to NA and BA, decided on retaining his NA seat. The third elected member Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi was selected for Balochistan Governorship, giving up his elected seat from his own Jhal Magsi constituency. Bye-elections to these seats would be held a little later.
Votes of confidence:
On April 9, 2008, Nawab Aslam Raisani won vote of confidence. All the 57 members present in the House cast their votes in favour of Nawab Aslam Raisani. H e was declared elected, unopposed as there was no opposition, by newly elected Speaker of Balochistan Assembly Mr. Mohammad Aslam Bhootani. Mr. Aslam Bhootani was Deputy Speaker of the previous Balochistan Assembly. Two MPAs Sardarzada Bakhtiar Domki and Agha Maulana Abdul Bari remained absent from the House, while the third MPA Dr Fozia Marri arrived in the House after the voting, at this PA special session.
Command & Control:
With such commanding parliamentary confidence and political control over the province, Nawab Aslam Raisani's coalition government has revived the process of democratic governance in Balochistan. The existing electoral process has, so far, brought no pleasure for big chunk of Balochistan, where Baloch and Pashtun nationalist leaders and parties remained out of it, because of boycotting ballots on Feb 18, 2008. Ballot-boycott was based on the people's deep-rooted mistrust of the Federal Government, military action, mass-scale arrests, kidnapping and killing of activists, bringing Balochistan politics to a boiling point. This is the first and foremost time-testing task for the Raisani PPP-led Provincial Government. Apparently, this task seems easy for Balochistan PPP-led government, because of the PPP-led counterpart at the centre. The governments could work in tandem for addressing this mammoth task.
Democratic governance demands for an open dialogue. The dialogue should be between the government and Baloch and Pashtun nationalists, who boycotted the ballot as well as those who participated, but are still on the other side of the political divide. As a first step forward, Baloch and Pashtun political leaders and activists should be released for dialogue on seeking solution to a whole slew of problems: political, economic, social, tribal, customs, conventions and tradition, common to such conservative and tradition-ridden tribal society as Balochistan has today.
Peace Blueprint:
Side by side, serious thought should be given to a blueprint for peace already exists in a shape of comprehensive report on Balochistan for reconciliation prepared by President Musharraf-Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz regime. This report, prepared by a parliamentary committee, two years back, is still pending for consideration and implementation. This report deals with almost a whole slew of problems facing Balochistan politics, economics, social and tribal affairs for possible solution. This report could easily form firm basis for talks and tasks, seeking realistic and practical solution to the most of the problems in the province by both sides. Balochistan has provincial entity. Such entity must have national moorings rather than a battle ground for differences and disputes between the democratic government and democracy-loving people of Balochistan. Both sides have to discard existing mindset. There has to be ceasefire by both sides. Insurgency and militancy must come to an end with a lowering of the military presence and maintaining peace for result-oriented dialogue by those fighting for people's rights over their resources in Balochistan. Thus alone Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani government in Islamabad and Nawab Aslam Raisani Government in Quetta could embark on a progressive course for the people of Balochistan to be in the mainstream of Pakistan's politics and economic prosperity. Fortunately, both the Governor Nawab Zlufiqar Ali Magsi and the Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, belonging to Balochistan tribal society, seem to have a common mindset for initiating dialogue process for reconciliation efforts in right earnest.l
