Nawab Aslam Raisani. — File photo

QUETTA: Former Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raisani on Saturday decided not to contest the upcoming general elections in the country.

“I would remain in politics but I would not become part of assembly,” he told reporters. Raisani said he did not submit his nomination papers deliberately.

The former Chief Minister also expressed concern over what he called “irrelevant” questions by Returning Officers. “In such this situation I cannot become part of the legislature,” he added.

Nawab Raisani, who is also a strong tribal chieftain, stated that the people of his constituency have always supported and voted for him. “People cannot be distanced from me,” he said.

The former chief minister was elected as an MPA from Mastung in the 2008 general elections. However, he has not submitted his nomination papers in Mastung this time around.

Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan retired Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim.—File Photo

QUETTA: Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim has advised caretaker Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Barozai to refrain from inducting political nominees into his cabinet.

Sources said on Saturday that Justice Ebrahim had taken notice of reports which said the parties in the former government led by Nawab Aslam Raisani wanted their nominees to be appointed caretaker ministers.

According to the sources, the leaders of nationalist and other parties had informed Justice Ebrahim during a recent meeting in Quetta that some parties were exerting pressure on Mr Barozai to induct some of their well-wishers into the caretaker cabinet.

However, Justice Ebrahim had asked a senior government official to inform both the chief minister and governor of Balochistan that no political nominee should be appointed minister, said the sources.

Nawab Aslam Raisani. — File Photo.

QUETTA: The government and opposition have proposed three names each for the post of caretaker chief minister of Balochistan and started talks on Wednesday evening to agree on a name. They decided to resume discussions on Thursday.

Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani has proposed the names of former chief justice of Balochistan Amanullah Yasinzai and Jam Kamal, son of former chief minister late Jam Mohammad Yousuf.

The Leader of Opposition in the now dissolved provincial assembly, Mir Tariq Magsi, has proposed the names Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Barozai and Sardar Mohammad Saleh Bhootani after consultation with his group and political parties outside the assembly.

Saleh Bhootani was caretaker chief minister in 2008 and Ghous Bakhsh is son of Nawab Mohammad Khan Barozai, the speaker of the first assembly of Balochistan. He had also served as chief minister in late 70s.

The National Party (NP) has suggested the names of retired justice Ahmed Khan Lashari and advocate Ali Ahmed Kurd, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

Tariq Magsi said his group had proposed the names of Ghous Bakhsh Barozai and Sardar Bhootani after consultations with the PML-N, PPP, Pakhtunkhawa Milli Awami Party and Balochistan National Party.

He said the opposition and government teams had held a meeting on Wednesday and would meet again on Thursday. “We are trying to nominate a unanimous candidate,” he told Dawn.

He said the opposition team comprised Sardar Sanaullah Zehri of the PML-N, Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhel of PML-Q, Mir Sadiq Umrani of PPP, Aslam Bizenjo, Saeed Ahmed Hashmi and retired captain Abdul Khaliq Achakzai.

The government team consists of Syed Ehsan Shah and Mir Asad Baloch of the BNP-Awami, Aainullah Shams of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Ali Madad Jattak of PPP, Zamarak Khan Piralizai of Awami National Party and Saleem Khosa.

Photo shows a view of the Balochistan Assembly in session. — File photo

Raisani signs dissolution advice: Ministers’ resignation adds twist to Balochistan tangle

QUETTA, March 17: The constitutional crisis in Balochistan deepened after resignations of 21 ministers belonging to a group led by leader of opposition in the provincial assembly Mir Tariq Magsi were accepted by the governor on Sunday. Later, 13 ministers belonging to the JUI-F and BNP-Awami also submitted their resignations to the governor.

The opposition group claimed that Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani had lost majority in the assembly but his supporters disagreed.

The ministers whose resignations have been accepted include Sardar Masood Luni, Mir Habibur Rehman Mohammad Hasni, Babu Rahim Mengal, Mir Amanullah Notizai, Mir Hamal Kalmati, Ms Shama Perveen Magsi, Engineer Basnat Lal Gushan, Ruqayya Saeed Hashmi and Ms Sobia Kiran of the PML-Q, Mir Sadiq Ali Umrani, Asfandyar Kakar, Babu Amin, Jan Ali Changezi, Nasir Jamali and Agha Irfan of the PPP and Mir Zahoor Buladi and Sardar Aslam Bizenjo (independents).

Opposition leader Tariq Magsi said Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi had also accepted the resignations of another three ministers sent through fax.

Mir Tariq Magsi, Shoaib Nosherwani, Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhel, former speaker Mohammad Aslam Bhootani, Mir Tariq Masoori Bugti and former senator Saeed Ahmed Hashmi accompanied the ministers who held a meeting with the governor in the evening and handed over their resignations to him.

However, the situation was not clear about the convening of an assembly session on Monday as no official notification was issued by the assembly secretariat or the Governor’s House till late in the night. In a late-night development, Speaker Matiullah Agha issued a notification appointing senior minister Maulana Abdul Wasey of the JUI-F as leader of opposition.

Mir Tariq Magsi was appointed leader of opposition on Dec 18 last year by then speaker Aslam Bhootani. But Speaker Matiullah Agha de-notified the appointment which was challenged by Tariq Magsi in the Balochistan High Court. The court nullified the speaker’s decision and restored Tariq Magsi.

Tariq Magsi claimed that he enjoyed the support of over 35 legislators and urged the governor to ask the chief minister to show his majority in the house.

A meeting of the provincial cabinet scheduled for Sunday could not be held, despite the return of Chief Minister Raisani to Quetta from Islamabad. “The meeting was cancelled by the chief minister,” official sources said but did not give any reason.

Chief Minister Raisani had sent a written advice to the governor seeking immediate removal of 13 ministers belonging to the JUI-F and BNP-Awami from his cabinet. The governor confirmed that he had received Mr Raisani’s advice as well as resignations of the ministers. “Yes, I have received the resignations of 13 ministers belonging to the JUI-F and BNP-Awami and at the same time the chief minister also sent a written advice for the removal these ministers,” Governor Magsi told Dawn.

He said he had written a letter to the chief minister asking him whether he should accept their resignations or issue an order for their removal.

Minister Mir Saleem Khosa of the PML-Q who had attended the opposition group’s meeting on Saturday was not among the ministers who submitted their resignations to the governor.

Sardar Aslam Bizenjo said the opposition group enjoyed the support of over 40 legislators in a house of 65. He said Chief Minister Raisani had lost the trust of majority members and he should resign.

“How could Nawab Raisani hold consultations with the leader of opposition for a caretaker chief minister when he has lost majority in the house,” said Jaffar Khan Mandokhel, provincial president of the PML-Q.

He said Nawab Raisani had invited only JUI-F and BNP-Awami ministers to Islamabad for talks with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and ignored other ministers who had supported his government for almost five years.

“It was our insult,” Mr Mandokhel said, adding that after this attitude the group had decided to support Tariq Magsi and resign from the cabinet.

Mr Magsi said the governor should ask Nawab Raisani to take a fresh vote of confidence because he lacked majority in the house.

“I am enjoying support of more than 35 legislators,” he said, adding that now it was a game of numbers. “We will show our majority in the house,” he said. He said PML-N’s Sardar Sanaullah Zehri had also announced his support for the opposition group to block the way of imposing an interim government after dissolution of the Balochistan Assembly.

Sardar Zehri had announced that five ministers of his party would quit the Raisani-led collation government.

Meanwhile, JUI-F, BNP-Awami and ANP leaders held a meeting which continued till late in the night to work out a plan of action.

Chief Minister Raisani was still optimistic about resolving the issue. Talking to reporters, he said he would send an advice to the governor on Tuesday for dissolution of the assembly. “I will do everything with consensus and mutual understanding,” he said. Deputy parliamentary leader of the PPP in the assembly Ali Madad Jattak, who is supporting Mr Raisani, said the PPP ministers who had supported the leader of opposition would face disciplinary action for violating the party discipline.

But Mir Sadiq Ali Umrani, provincial president of the PPP, said most party members were with him and joining the opposition group was a majority decision.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani. — File photo

QUETTA: The Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani has agreed to send advice to Governor Zulfiqar Magsi for dissolution of the provincial assembly on March 19, government sources told Dawn.com.

Raisani had backed down from his demand that the chief secretary be changed before the dissolution of the provincial assembly.

This occurred after the transfer of the Balochistan Chief Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fatah Mohammad.

Earlier on the chief minister had complained that the president has not fulfilled the promises that they had agreed upon and was adamant the the chief secretary be changed.

Meanwhile sources have said that the Balochistan governor will be asked to accept the resignations of JUI-F, BNP Awami, ANP along with other parties who want to sit on the opposition benches.

Sources have said that 17 members of the Balochistan Assembly have agreed to sit on the opposition benches. These also include members of the PML-Q, PPP, PML-N and independent candidates.

Nawabzada Tariq Magsi, who is the brother of the governor, will be the opposition leader, sources said.

Former Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani. — File photo

Pakistan People Party’s Nawab Aslam Raisani came to power at such a time when all the major nationalist political parities had boycotted the elections and the province was struck by separatist insurgencies which had gained new momentum after Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti’s assassination in 2006. 



This was coupled by the military establishment’s change in its operational strategies towards Balochistan — from overt operations to more covert ones. As more and more Baloch nationalist activists began to disappear, more and more religious seminaries surfaced across Balochistan, aimed at converting the otherwise secular Baloch society into a religiously extremist one.

At the same time a huge number of Taliban fighters and hardliners had also taken refuge in Balochistan, particularly on the outskirts of Quetta, after their emirate was overthrown by the US-led NATO forces in assistance with the Northern Alliance. These Taliban fighters had now allied with sectarian outfits such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi who are thought to have ties with Pakistan’s military establishment. The Taliban-LeJ alliance, who are allegedly given a free hand to operate in Balochistan, is evident from one of their threat letters thrown into Hazara localities in Quetta last year: “Just as our fighters have waged a successful jihad against the Shia-Hazaras in Afghanistan, our mission [in Pakistan] is the abolition of this impure sect and people”.

Meanwhile, the mainstream secular political parties of Balochistan such as Balochistan National Party (BNP) and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (Pk-MAP) had boycotted the 2008 general elections which created a huge political vacuum in the province. This paved the way for some political opportunists to win the elections and form the provincial government with almost no opposition. Instead of showing commitment to resolving the core issues of the province, they were more interested in holding ministries and finding ways of embezzlement to further enrich themselves as they knew it was their first and last chance.

The already troubled province descended further into chaos as the number of mutilated dead bodies of Baloch activists increased, demand of a separate Pakhtun province accelerated and attacks on Hazaras quadrupled. Extensive deployment of non-local Pakhtun-dominated Frontier Corps in various parts of Balochistan created a sense of insecurity among the Baloch population which, some activists believe, was aimed at creating a Baloch-Pakhtun divide.

The FC has been generally blamed for being involved in extra-judicial killings of Baloch political activists and running a parallel government in the province. On the contrary, the Pakhtuns felt that they are being marginalized through district quotas in education and services and not given enough share in power as both Governorship and Chief ministership were held by the Balochs. The Baloch say that the power actually belongs to the Frontier Corps which runs a parralel government in the province. Mahmood Khan Achakzai of Pk-MAP increased his demand of division of Balochistan (and restoration of British Balochistan) after the US Congressional hearing on Balochistan in 2012. Even discussions over Quetta’s city status and competition over its control reverberated in the drawing rooms.

On the other hand, Hazaras feel squeezed from all around for having been attacked by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Taliban while left out by both the provincial government and the Frontier Corps in addition to facing discriminations in educational institutions, government offices and civil services.

The ethno-sectarian biases towards Hazaras have been documented by a number of rights groups. A report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan released in August 30th, 2012 reads: “Hazaras have been already uprooted from Machh, Loralai and Zhob. It seems a campaign has been launched to terrorize the Hazara community so that they leave Quetta by selling their businesses and property at throwaway prices. Pamphlets have been left at their homes telling them to sell their houses and leave.”

The report further reads “administration seems to bear ethnic and sectarian biases against the Hazara-Shia community. Since the new government assumed the charge, not a single challan (charge sheet) had been presented in courts against the accused. The accused are arrested in the morning and released in the afternoon. No government or public official had ever condemned the targeted killing of members of the Hazara community nor came to condole the murders or offer any compensation to the victims’ families.”

There were also reports of provincial ministers being involved in targeted-attacks, kidnapping for ransom and land grabbing. Despite the fact that Hazaras had voted for PPP candidates in the previous elections, the party’s leaders sometimes even blamed the Hazaras themselves for the killings, instead of protecting them.

For instance, PPP MNA Ayatullah Durrani claimed during a live TV show that Hazaras kill each other to strengthen their cases of asylum in Australia. Such ruthless behavior enraged the community at large and not everybody considered this as an individual act.

Sectarian outfits such as Ahle Sunnat Wal Jama’at (former Sipah e Sahaba Pakistan) had no say in Balochistan before but in recent years they have managed to hold huge public rallies, conferences and congregations. They issue regular statements against Shias on local media but the province’s main political parties have not practically done anything to stop it as they consider, albeit falsely, that the venom of sectarian terrorism does not hurt them directly. The continuous onslaught against Shias, Ahmadis and Hindus has actually helped the criminals and land mafia who are enjoying immunity.

Amidst utter hopelessness, helplessness, sense of insecurity and frustrations, Hazaras this time refused to bury the victims of the twin blasts on January 10, 2013. They staged a three-day long sit-in alongside the coffins of their loved ones in subzero temperature on Alamdar Road, Quetta, demanding removal of Nawab Aslam Raisani’s government who had even mocked the community by offering “truckload of tissue papers for the bereaved families to wipe out their tears” after the Mastung massacre in 2011.

The protest was initially ignored by both the provincial and federal governments. However, as more and more people took to the streets across Pakistan and around the globe to express solidarity with the protesters, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf travelled to Quetta after three days and announced imposition of Governor’s rule in the province. This move apparently convinced the protesters to bury the dead bodies but did not satisfy the community at large in terms of security assurances. They had no other options as their immediate demand was fulfilled.

However, Ahmed Kohzad, General Sectary Hazara Democratic Party (HDP), who went on a three-day hunger strike along with his party leadership and workers, is not satisfied with the outcome of the protests and vowed to “resume our protests peacefully and through various means if the government does not ensure our security which can only be achieved by a targeted operation against the terrorists. Our demand is targeted operations against Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and its affiliates.”

“Military interventions and Governor’s rule are not the solutions. We demand an end to the killings, by any means possible. If not, we will be forced to knock at the door of international communities,” Ahmed replied to a question whether he thought the Governor’s rule would solve the problem.

Nawab Aslam Raisani, who had earlier sacked Jan Ali Changezi (the only minister from the Hazara community) due to his protests against the killings, said in interview from London to a private TV channel, “I expected this (being sacked) from last three years.” But he linked his removal to the Reko Diq copper-cum-gold mining project. “It [Quetta sit-in] was just an excuse. Sectarian killings take place everywhere, even in Indonesia,” said the ex-chief minister.

The removal of Raisani government and imposition of Governer’s rule caused an outrage among the political circles who were either directly affected by losing ministries or were critical of strengthening the undemocratic forces.  Balochistan Assembly rejected the Governor’s rule and called it ‘unconstitutional’. They have warned President Asif Ali Zardari to undo the notification of governor’s rule and if not, they would ‘stage province-wide protest demonstrations’.

Some Baloch nationalist parties have also expressed concerns over imposition of Governer’s rule and handing over policing authority to the Frontier Corps which, they fear, would be greatly used against Baloch activists. Nonetheless, the fact is that the Frontier Corps had been already enjoying policing authority in the past. So, other than removal of a spectator and helpless cabinet, nothing actually changed.

The fact is that attacks will not cease unless the terror networks are dismantled through targeted clean-up operations against Lashkar-e-Jhangvi hideouts and Taliban quarters in the province which seems unpredictable as long as the military establishment’s policy of ‘divide-and-rule’ towards Balochistan and policy of ‘strategic depth’ towards Afghanistan remain unchanged. Not to forget that Hazara leaders had at times blamed the Frontier Corps for its unwillingness to arrest the attackers.

Having said this, the frequency of attacks on Hazaras may decrease for a couple of months until a new civilian government replaces the current one to stand at the receiving end of the blame. At the same time, the Frontier Corps might apprehend a couple of low level LeJ operatives (to be released later, as usual) amidst an effort to make some headlines but the main target might be Baloch nationalists  and seperatists.

Last but not the least, there is a huge fear of ethnic and sectarian conflicts in the province if the situations remain the same. It is up to the people of Balochistan to either unite and fight to save their habitat or let the fire burn the whole jungle as it will not remain limited to just a single communityor area.

The author is a freelance journalist and human rights activist from Quetta. He can be reached at dr.saleemjavid@gmail.com

The views expressed by this writer and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

Former Balochistan chief minister Aslam Raisani. — Photo by APP/File

QUETTA, Jan 14: Balochistan PPP president Mir Sadiq Ali Umrani has called for an investigation into the alleged corruption committed by the Raisani government during the past four-and-a-half years.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, he said the people of Balochistan had welcomed the removal of the government and imposition of governor’s rule in the province.

Former senator Mian Saifullah Khan Peracha, former provincial minister Jan Ali Changezi, Javed Ahmed, Syed Iqbal Shah and other PPP leaders were present on the occasion.

Mr Umrani said the federal government had given billions of rupees to Balochistan for development but a big portion of funds was allegedly embezzled because of wrong policies of the Raisani government.

He said instead of using these funds for the betterment of people, the money was allegedly spent on purchasing big houses and flats abroad.

“Since I and Jan Ali Changezi were part of the ousted cabinet, we present ourselves for accountability,” Mr Umrani said.

He said a probe should be initiated against the former chief minister and his ministers for the alleged misuse of development funds.

The PPP leader said over 1,100 people of the Hazara community had been killed in blasts, suicide attacks and target killings and over 5,000 belonging to other communities also lost their lives over the past five years.

He said the federal government had no other option but to impose governor’s rule because the ousted government had failed to protect the life and property of people of Balochistan.

Speaker Balochistan Assembly Muhammad Aslam Bhootani. — File photo

QUETTA, Dec 24: Balochistan Assembly Speaker Aslam Bhootani said on Monday he might move court if “unconstitutional voting” on a no-confidence motion against him was held in the provincial assembly on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference, he said the Constitution had been violated while presenting the motion. “The motion was presented against me after I took the stand that since the Supreme Court has declared the Balochistan government unconstitutional, I will not preside over the assembly session until the status of the provincial government is not clear.”

Mr Bhootani said that Chief Minister Aslam Raisani was backing the movers of the motion. “The tactics of the Balochistan government will not deter me from my principled stand.”

He said that according to Rule 11 a member could give a no-trust motion notice under Article 53 Sub-clause 7, but in his case the senior minister gave the notice to the assembly secretary. According to rules and regulations of the assembly, only a member could move a no-trust motion against the speaker and a minister had no right to table it because members did not include the chief minister, speaker, deputy speaker and ministers, he added.

Mr Bhootani said voting on a no-trust motion could not be held during a assembly session called by the governor on the advice of the chief minister because only the speaker was “entitled under Article 54, Sub-Clause (3) of the Constitution to call in session of the assembly on the matter of no-trust motion”.

In reply to a question, Mr Bhootani said he would not attend the ongoing session of the assembly because he did not recognise the Raisani government as constitutional and legal.

He said Deputy Speaker Syed Matiullah Agha had given a wrong ruling that the assembly secretary had nothing to do with the voting process. “It is the assembly secretary who shall serve notices on members about the motion.”

He said the Raisani government had lost the right to govern because the Supreme Court had declared it unconstitutional.

He said 32 legislators were present in the 65-member assembly when the no-trust motion against him was tabled while under the rules no voting could be held until all members were informed about the move.He said the voting on the motion could not be held because the assembly secretariat had not dispatched notices to any member so far.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani. — File photo

ISLAMABAD, Nov 4: While the beleaguered Chief Minister of Balochistan, Nawab Aslam Raisani, is virtually running from pillar to post to save his job, the top PPP leadership is maintaining an uncanny silence over what appears to be an internecine warfare.

Neither President Asif Ali Zardari, who is the final authority in affairs of the ruling party, nor other office-bearers of the PPP, including General Secretary Senator Jahangir Badar, has said anything about the crisis which the PPP in Balochistan is facing. There was no answer to repeated telephone calls and text messages left on the cellphone of Mr Badar.

“I cannot comment until I discuss the issue with the party leadership,” Qamar Zaman Kaira, who besides holding the portfolio of Information Minister is also the party’s chief spokesperson, responded on Sunday. “I was away in my home constituency over the weekend, hence couldn’t get the chance to talk to the party chief,” he added.

Farhatullah Babar, who handles the media for the president, told Dawn that it was an internal party matter which would be dealt with in accordance with laid down procedures. He didn’t say anything when asked if President Zardari, who is also co-chairman of the PPP, had taken any action or appointed any party leader to settle the dispute.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Raisani dashed to Lahore where he met his counterpart in Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, reportedly to seek his political support.

Although the PML-N lacks representation in the 65-member Balochistan Assembly, reports suggest that many among the PML-Q’s present 19 MPAs want to contest the next elections with the N-League.

On the other hand, Sadiq Umrani, PPP’s Balochistan president, continued to target Mr Raisani and accused him of bringing a bad name to the party for his alleged involvement in corruption and for misgoverning the province.

Mr Umrani said on Sunday he had presented every minor detail of party’s provincial affairs before the top leadership which, he claimed, fully agreed that it was a mistake to appoint Mr Raisani as chief minister.

“Our chief minister is more interested in releasing nearly one billion rupees as compensation to his family and buying a luxury plane for his personal travel. He has no time for people dying in the province,” Mr Umrani said.

Interestingly though, Mr Umrani worked under Mr Raisani as minister for communications and works until May this year when his portfolio was withdrawn by the chief minister. Mr Umrani said it was a party decision, but squarely put the blame for his sacking in September on Mr Raisani.

Asked if the party leadership had endorsed disciplinary action against the chief minister, he said the decision had been taken by the district and division leadership. “The party leaders in district Mastung and Kalat division have genuine ground on the basis of which they have suspended the basic membership of Mr Raisani,” Mr Umrani said and claimed that there was complete lawlessness in Kalat.

As per the PPP’s constitution, he said, Mr Raisani’s membership would remain suspended till he filed an appeal against his suspension at the party’s higher forum.

“I don’t know if the party leadership was onboard as far as his (Raisani’s) suspension is concerned. Of late, both Mr Umrani and Mr Raisani have developed serious differences between themselves,” said a PPP member of the National Assembly from Quetta.

Senator Laskhari Raisani, younger brother of the chief minister, was PPP’s Balochistan president until March 2010 when he was replaced by Mr Umrani. Laskhari Raisani quit his Senate seat in March this year because of his differences with the party leadership, but the party is yet to accept his resignation.

Speaker Mohammad Aslam Bhootani wasn’t available for comment, but Mr Umrani quoted him as saying that he would not call the Balochistan Assembly session until the governor determined the legal status of the Raisani government after the Supreme Court interim order issued on Oct 12.

The order stated that the Balochistan government had failed to discharge its constitutional duties and the chief minister lost the authority to govern the province constitutionally.

 Cabinet meeting

CM Raisani has called a cabinet meeting on Nov 9 and Mr Umrani said it was against the Constitution and those attending the meeting would commit contempt of court in view of the interim order.

On Friday, the federal government challenged the court’s interim order and made it clear that it found the order flawed and that only the president had the right to intervene in affairs of provinces.

Observers closely watching the development believe that those who matter in the party must have given a go-ahead against Mr Raisani.

A source close to PPP circles said it appeared that the party leadership was hoping that Mr Raisani would meet the same fate as former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani did at the hands of the Supreme Court. He said that until last days the entire PPP leadership was standing behind Mr Gilani over the issue of Swiss letter against the president, but it took an about-turn after the SC sacked Mr Gilani.

Except for issuing a few statements against the SC verdict, the PPP accepted it smoothly and moved ahead with the election of Raja Pervez Ashraf as new prime minister.

In the case of Mr Raisani, the federal government has so far supported him, but if tomorrow the SC orders the federal government to sack the chief minister or impose governor rule, President Zardari would follow the order quite happily, the source said.

Doctors from the Pakistan Medical Association protest in Quetta against the government’s failure to rescue kidnapped psychiatrist Dr Ghulam Rasool – Photo by INP/File

QUETTA: Sadiq Umrani on Thursday accused Chief Minister Balochistan Aslam Raisani of involvement in the kidnappings of doctors across the province, DawnNews reported.

Speaking to media representatives in Quetta, Umrani said that the provincial government had failed in establishing law and order in Balochistan.

He added the there had been a hike in the incidents of targeted killings and kidnapping for ransom in the province.

Umrani further said that 18 activists of the PPP had been killed in Kalat during the past two years.

Earlier today, PPP’s Kalat division had suspended Raisani’s party membership, stating that the chief minister had been continually violating party policies.