Balochistan CM resigns

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal has decided to step down from the post of CM ship ahead of the voting scheduled on the no-confidence motion against him on Monday. Kamal has submitted his resignation to the Governor of Balochistan Syed Zahoor Ahmad Agha. Governor Balochistan Syed Zahoor Ahmad Agha has accepted his resignation.

Earlier, Kamal and estranged members of his Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) did not show any flexibility over the resignation of the CM, and the no-trust motion. Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani and federal minister Pervaiz Khattak, who had reached Quetta to seek a solution of the situation, are staying in the provincial capital and expected to hold meetings with both sides to resolve the matter, sources said.

According to the sources, the estranged group have required numbers for the approval of the no-confidence motion against the CM Jam Kamal in Balochistan Assembly with support from JUI, BNP and the Pashtunkhwa MAP. Chief Minister Jam Kamal in a tweet Sunday expressed gratitude to allied parties for their confidence. "I have given my mandate to the BAP members and the allies. What they will decide in this scenario will be better decision," the CM said. "I am ready to sit in the opposition if the PDM will form a government with the disgruntled members," he said.

PM should tell federal members to not 'fiddle with Balochistan's internal matters': CM Jam Kamal

"Those hungry for power and greed should enjoy their temptation. The PDM, estranged BAP members and the mafias will be responsible for any loss to the province," Jam Kamal stated. Parliamentary leader of BNP-Awami, Asadullah Baloch, in his statement, said that Chief Minister Jam Kamal has lost his majority. He should accept defeat and step down, he said.

"We have support of 40 members of the assembly, and will prove this in the assembly session tomorrow," Asadullah Baloch said. Meanwhile, former Balochistan chief minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) general secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri asked CM Jam Kamal to resign because he has lost his confidence now.

Speaking to the media flanked with Maulana Abdul Ghafoor at the residence of Speaker Abdul Quddus Bizenjo in Quetta, Sanaullah Zehri said that when a no-confidence motion was brought against him, he did not try to agree to anyone. "I had resigned myself before the no-confidence motion. Standing in the assembly, I said that I came with respect and would leave with honour."

He also advised CM Jam Kamal to resign as it is not his honour to cling to power. "In politics, yesterday's friends are today s enemies and today s friends are tomorrow s enemies. The obedience to Balochistan's tradition is to prioritize personal status over position."

I have not resigned, says Balochistan CM Jam Kamal

Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri said that Jam Kamal did not even take care of women for saving the government, adding that the obstacles have been created in the way of democracy. "I have no personal difference with Jam Kamal but issue with his way of ruling. The government should run the affairs along with the opposition."

Earlier, Chief Minister Jam Kamal had dispelled rumours regarding his resignation as a meeting between him, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani held. Announcing a rebuttal, Jam Kamal took to Twitter and said: "I have not resigned and such rumours may not spread."

According to sources privy to the matter, Sadiq Sanjrani and Pervez Khattak were at the Chief Minister House in Quetta for hours and had a meeting with the incumbent chief minister. A session of the Balochistan Assembly has been summoned on October 25 (tomorrow) for voting on a no-confidence motion tabled against CM Jam Kamal Alyani by the disgruntled lawmakers.