QUETTA: The National Party (NP) has decided to initiate dialogue with all stakeholders for resolving the Balochistan issue and take political parties into confidence for creating an atmosphere conducive to the process.

A two-day meeting of the party’s central committee which concluded on Sunday evening reviewed the situation in the province and the performance of the provincial government.

The meeting was presided over by NP president and Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch and attended by the party’s senior vice-president Mir Hasil Bizenjo, secretary general Mir Tahir Bizenjo, Dr Ishaq Baloch and members of the committee and councillors.

The meeting expressed concerns over the deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan and the poor performance of the education and health departments.

Mir Jan Muhammad Buledi, a spokesman for the chief minister, said the meeting was of the opinion that the Balochistan problem was of political nature and it should be solved through political dialogue with all the stakeholders. It held that the situation had worsened because of wrong polices of the past governments which had not made any serious efforts to solve the problem. The committee underlined the need for holding local government elections in the province to solve people’s problems at the grassroots level. “Democracy cannot flourish without holding local body elections,” it observed.

The meeting also discussed the issue of rehabilitation of the people who migrated from the province because of various reasons, including targeted killings and operations in different areas, and decided to utilise all available resources to settle them in their own areas.

Speaking at the meeting, Dr Baloch said he would make all possible efforts to resolve the Balochistan issue through political dialogue. “We will consult all political forces for developing a conducive atmosphere before initiating the dialogue in the larger interest and prosperity of Balochistan.”

He appealed to the military and the political leadership to play their role in this regard.

The chief minister said his government was trying to control lawlessness and restore peace in the province. The development process and business activities have been badly affected while the education and health sectors have reached the brink of disaster.

He said the provincial government had good understanding with the centre and was trying to resolve the Balochistan issue with the help of the federal government.

Dr Malik said the implementation of constitutional quota for jobs in federal government departments and other institutions would help minimise unemployment in Balochistan and a large number of educated youths would get jobs.

He said a number of committees had been set up to prepare policies for improvement in different sectors, including education, health, fisheries, labour, media, local bodies, culture, mining and woman and youth affairs.

The National Party also decided to hold seminars and meetings in connection with the death anniversaries of Ayub Buledi, Mir Maula Bakhsh Dashti, Dr Nasim Jhangyan and Fida Baloch.

A public meeting in this connection would be held on Nov 22.