Talks between government, BNP-Mengal end in stalemate

ISLAMABAD: Talks between the government and BNP-Mengal ended in a stalemate on Saturday after the latter declined to review his decision of parting ways with the ruling coalition, reported The News.

Minister for Defence Pervaiz Khattak and Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar met BNP-Mengal President MNA Akhtar Mengal after Prime Minister Imran Khan tasked them to listen to the grievances of BNP-Mengal and convince him to reverse the decision, he had announced on the floor of the National Assembly the other day.

During the meeting, Khattak and Umar requested Sardar Akhtar Mengal to withdraw the decision but he refused to do so, and thus the meeting remained fruitless.

After the meeting, Khattak said BNP's reservations would be removed soon and there would be further meetings with Mengal. Umar said that the PTI believed that the country would not be able to make progress if every part of it was not developed and given its due rights.

The BNP chief said that the prime minister had not made any direct contact so far and that he could not violate the party's decision. “We have put our concerns before the government delegation,” he maintained.

It is pertinent to mention here that Mengal, the head of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), recently announced his separation from the ruling coalition and the Jamhoori Watan Party of Nawab Shazain Bugti had also started considering splitting from the coalition. BNP-Mengal has four NA seats.

BNP-Mengal had decided to side with the PTI after the 2018 general election, putting before the party leadership six major demands, which included recovery of the missing persons in Balochistan and implementation of the National Action Plan and repatriation of the Afghan refugees and mainstreaming of the province.

Before the separation of BNP, the PTI government had 186 seats in the National Assembly with the support of all allies, which has now been reduced to 182 after the separation of the BNP-M. A simple majority of 172 members is required, which is still maintained by the party.

PML-N Senator Kalsoom Parveen on the floor of the Senate, during the ongoing budget discussion, claimed that the government would not be able to get the budget passed through the National Assembly in the given situation inside the Parliament.

Earlier, during an All Parties Conference convened by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Mengal while responding to a question, said his party would rejoin the government coalition once the federal government announced to fulfil its promise and accepts BNP’s demands. “I am not an individual to quit the coalition as the decision in this regard was taken by the party’s central executive committee,” he said.

He said previously the BNP-M had warned the PTI government while reminding it of its promises. “I think it has never happened in the country’s history that a party announced to part ways with the government on the floor of Parliament,” he said.

In response to another question, Mengal suggested that a comparison should be made between the wealth and properties of three dictators like Pervez Musharraf, Ayub Khan and Zialul Haq with all Nawabs and Sardars of Balochistan.

Meanwhile, PM Imran has summoned another meeting of the negotiating committee to resolve the matter of the BNP-M's withdrawal from the government.

The committee comprising Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Khattak and Umar will brief the premier over their discussion with the disgruntled BNP-M leadership. The prime minister will also be informed about the meeting between Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and Mengal.

Originally published in The News