BAP’s splinter group gets required number to oust Kamal-led Balochistan govt

• Four "missing" MPAs Sunday arrived in Quetta and declared their support for thedisgruntled group.
• The group proved its majority as 39 out of the 65 lawmakers were present at the press conference today.
• PPP’s leader and former chief minister of Balochistan, Sanaullah Khan Zehri, have also thrown his weight behind the disgruntled group.

QUETTA: With the addition of four "missing" lawmakers of the provincial assembly, the group of the Balochistan Awami Party's (BAP) disgruntled members has secured the required number in the provincial assembly to oust the Jam Kamal Khan-led government in the province.

The four MPAs, who had gone missing on the day when the disgruntled group had tabled the no-confidence motion in the assembly, arrived in Quetta on Sunday and declared their support for the group.

Addressing a press conference in the provincial capital, the group proved its majority as 39 out of the 65 lawmakers were present at the venue.

PPP’s leader and former chief minister of Balochistan, Sanaullah Khan Zehri, have also thrown his weight behind the disgruntled group. Speaking on the occasion, the splinter group’s Mir Zahoor Buledi thanked PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari for the support.

It is pertinent to mention here that Balochistan Assembly Speaker Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo had fixed October 25 for voting on the no-confidence motion against the CM Jam Kamal Khan.

'Jam Kamal will go home at all costs': Malik Sikandar

Speaking on the development, Leader of Opposition in the Provincial Assembly, Malik Sikandar Advocate, said that Jam Kamal will have to "go home at all costs" because the splinter group now has the required number to oust him.

"All 40 members have decided to go to the provincial assemble together to cast the vote of no-confidence against Kamal," Sikandar said, adding that the party will decide on a future course of action once Jam Kamal is sent packing.

"The upcoming government will be better than Kamal's government," Sikandar promised.

80% of MPAs stand with us, says Kamal

A day earlier, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal had said that out of the 41 members of the Balochistan Assembly, 80% stand with him in opposition to the no-confidence motion moved against him two days back.

Taking to Twitter, CM Kamal had said 80% of coalition lawmakers in the provincial assembly — including from BAP, PTI, ANP, ADP, JWP, PPP, Azad, and BNP-A — support him.

"Why do we count opposition as part of this coalition? if they stick to this policy, then they should announce themselves as part of the Opposition too," CM Kamal had written.