ISLAMABAD: Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch conceded on Saturday that his government had failed to overcome the issue of missing persons in the province.

“Although its intensity has come down, the matter is still alive and this is possibly the only area where we have failed to achieve our target,” the outgoing chief minister said at a press conference here.

However, he remained cautious in explaining the issue and did not name any authority, area or persons involved.

“The success of negotiations has helped improve the situation. We even managed to recover some of the missing persons and the cordial situation has helped open up new doors for negotiations,” Dr Baloch said, without taking any question on the subject.

He said that among the areas of success of his ‘fair and simple’ government was that militancy had significantly diminished, the law and order situation in most of Balochistan was far better than what it was three years ago, the trend of maintaining “parallel security forces” had come to an end and the incidence of dumping of bullet-riddled bodies had declined by almost 80 per cent.

He said the National Party had been able to open the doors of negotiations with disgruntled Baloch leaders and even Brahamdagh Bugti was ready for talks.

Dr Baloch attributed the “success” of his two-and-a-half year government to good governance.

“I have tried my best to keep the whole government away from corruption and this long-standing stigma on the Balochistan government has gone away.”

Asked for a suggestion for his successor, he said: “(PML-N leader) Sardar Sanaullah Zehri is the captain of the ship now. We will like to see him continue with the reforms and good governance, especially in the fields of health and education.”

The chief minister added that the main issue was lack of adequate funding for infrastructure projects.

A FEW MORE DAYS: Meanwhile, NP chief Mir Hasil Bizenjo announced that while his party was ready to relinquish the post of Balochistan chief minister, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had asked it to wait for a few days.

“Despite suggestions from certain quarters that we should continue to hold the slot of Balochistan CM, we will adhere to the Murree agreement and leave it for the PML-N,” he said

Senator Bizenjo said there was no pressure from any side, establishment, agency or pressure group on his party to leave the post.

“Dr Abdul Malik was set to vacate the CM House on Monday but PM Nawaz Sharif has asked us to wait for a few days. This message was given by (federal minister) Saad Rafiq, asking us to wait for Mian sahib to return to the country (from his foreign visit).”

He said the change had been decided in the Murree accord signed by the PML-N, NP and the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP).

“We were in minority but the prime minister wanted us the nationalists to take the reins of the province and help steer it out of difficult times.

“But at the same time the local PML-N chapter wanted to form its government there, so it was decided that the first half of the tenure would be with us and the second one would be managed by the PML-N.”

The NP president dispelled a perception that some forces were creating a rift between his party and the PML-N.

“It should be clear that we are still part of the cabinet and will continue to support the Balochistan and federal governments in maintaining the writ of law in the province,” Senator Bizenjo said.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2015