After meeting PM Imran Khan, Jam Kamal refuses to step down as CM

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Web Desk
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  • CM Kamal says session for no-trust motion to be summoned soon.
  • Letter to ECP for appointing party's acting president holds no legal value, he says.
  • BAP's spokesman accuses CM of horse-trading; demands his resignation.


ISLAMABAD: Jam Kamal has refused to step down as the chief minister of Balochistan after he held a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan amid the deepening political crisis in the country's largest province.

The chief minister, speaking to the media after he met the premier, said a session of the Balochistan Assembly would be summoned within a day or two for a vote of no-confidence against him.

The disgruntled Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) lawmakers had yesterday told Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak that they would accept no option other than "minus Jam Kamal" after he asked them to resolve matters amicably.

He added that BAP General-Secretary Manzoor Kakar's letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for appointing Buledi as the party's acting president holds "no legal value", as he rejected the move.

Provincial minister Buledi was appointed as the acting president of BAP on October 11, but CM Kamal took back his decision to step down from the office a day after.

On the other hand, BAP's spokesman Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran accused the chief minister of horse-trading as he demanded that Kamal tenders his resignation.

On Monday, the disgruntled members of the provincial assembly (MPAs) — including lawmakers from BAP and allied parties — had submitted a no-confidence motion against Kamal.

A similar move was made back on September 14, when as many as 16 MPAs from the Balochistan Assembly had moved a no-confidence motion against CM Kamal, but it was later denied by the Governor House Secretariat on technical grounds.

Buledi seeks PM's intervention

Meanwhile, just a day before CM Kamal's meeting with the premier, Buledi had sought the prime minister's intervention into the province's political issues.

"The prime minister, being an ally, should play a positive role amid the political crisis in Balochistan [...] we seek his intervention so that matters do not deteriorate and [we have to choose to move] the no-confidence motion," he said while addressing a press conference.

Buledi noted that a PTI lawmaker had also signed the no-trust motion submitted to the secretariat of the Balochistan Assembly. He added there was a disagreement within the PTI about Kamal continuing as the chief minister.