QUETTA: Attempts by “certain forces” to create an “artificial leadership” through “coercion of politicians” would not enable them to achieve their goals, warned National Party (NP) chief Dr Abdul Malik Baloch on Sunday.

Speaking at a gathering where “a good number” of political leaders and workers joined his party, Dr Malik said nations were not built through hollow slogans.

“Instead, vision and sagacity are needed to weld a nation into a cohesive unit,” he said.

Vision and political foresight come from books and through learning from hard knocks of life, the NP leader observed.

Dr Malik recalled that “political meddling” had never produced the desired results, asserting it wouldn’t do so in future.

He thanked the new entrants for reposing trust in his party, expressing hopes they would devote themselves to strengthening the party and working for the masses.

Dr Malik Baloch said collective leadership, collective decision-making and self-accountability were the golden principles of democracy and the NP had made them a cornerstone of its policy.

“The National Party’s philosophy has reached every corner of Balochistan. Quetta, Sarawan, Jhalawan, Makran and Hub have become strongholds of our party because people know that we’ll never betray them,” Dr Malik said.

Some of the notable figures who joined the National Party were Babu Murad Bakhsh Bangulzai, Muhammad Hayat Bangulzai, Faisal Lashari, Lal Muhammad Hasni and Haji Abdullah.

Published in Dawn, january 2th, 2023