ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s opposition on Wednesday called on the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to hold a national debate on Balochistan, a day after a veteran politician announced his resignation from parliament over the deteriorating situation in the southwestern Pakistani province.
Sardar Akhtar Mengal, leader of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), announced his resignation from Pakistan’s National Assembly on Tuesday, saying the people of the Balochistan province had been “consistently marginalized” and “pushed to the wall.”
Mengal’s announcement came after over 50 people were killed in Balochistan when separatist militants attacked police stations, railway lines and highways on August 25, prompting security forces to launch retaliatory operations.
The assaults were the most widespread in years by ethnic militants fighting a decades-long insurgency to win secession of the resource-rich southwestern province, home to major China-led projects such as a port, and a gold and copper mine.
On Wednesday, Asad Qaiser, a member of the opposition from former PM Imran Khan’s party, said the opposition alliance had expressed “grave concern” over the Balochistan situation and decided to request the National Assembly speaker to initiate a debate on it.
“The government must come and inform parliament what policies it has regarding Balochistan,” he told reporters after an opposition meeting late Wednesday. “We have formed a special committee as we believe there should be an all-party conference on Balochistan, with all political parties and stakeholders on board and a collective decision made to address the concerns of our disgruntled Baloch brothers.”
He criticized the government for “not taking Balochistan seriously,” referring to the announcement of resignation by Mengal, a former Balochistan chief minister.
“He tendered resignation after being disappointed with the present situation,” Qaiser said. “This is a very alarming thing. If your political figures are discouraged this way, they feel that they have lost respect in their [native] area because of this parliament, then this parliament has no value.”
In his resignation letter, Mengal had said the attempts by the people of Balochistan to speak up for their rights or protest were met with “hostility.”
“Our people are either silenced, labeled as traitors, or worse, killed,” he said. “Under such circumstances, I find it impossible to continue in this capacity, as my presence here no longer serves any purpose for the people I represent.”
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is Pakistan’s most economically backward province, lagging behind the rest of the country by nearly all social and economic indicators. The province has been the site of a decades-long separatist insurgency by ethnic Baloch militants. The separatists say they are fighting what they see as unfair exploitation of the province’s mineral wealth by the federation. The state denies it.
In recent weeks, the province has also witnessed several protests by Baloch people and rights groups against what they describe as a pattern of enforced disappearances and other human rights abuses by security forces, who deny the charge.
Pakistan’s military has recently repeatedly referred to the ethnic rights movement in Balochistan being led by young people, many of them educated women, a “terrorist proxy.”
The decades-old insurgency has continued to keep the mineral-rich province of some 15 million people poor and unstable and created security concerns around Pakistan’s plans to access untapped resources under Balochistan’s desert and mountainous terrain.
The province is home to key mining projects, including Reko Diq, run by Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold and believed to be one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines. Balochistan is an important part of China’s $65 billion investment in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a wing of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road initiative.
The province also has a long Arabian Sea coastline in the south, not far from the Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz oil shipping lane.
Pakistan opposition calls on government to hold national debate on Balochistan
https://arab.news/bmdup
Pakistan opposition calls on government to hold national debate on Balochistan
- The demand came a day after a veteran politician from Balochistan announced his resignation from parliament
- His resignation followed deadly separatist attacks that killed more than 50 people in Balochistan late last month
Pakistan PM calls PIA privatization ‘vote of confidence’ as government pushes reforms
- The loss-making national flag carrier was sold to a Pakistani consortium for $482 million after two failed attempts
- Finance minister vows to continue economic reforms, engage international partners through trade and investment
KARACHI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday the privatization of state-owned Pakistan International Airlines marked a “vote of confidence” in the country’s economy, as the government presses ahead with structural reforms aimed at easing pressure on public finances and attracting investment.
The sale of the loss-making national carrier by a Pakistani consortium, which secured a 75 percent stake for Rs135 billion ($482 million), follows two previous attempts to privatize PIA. The development comes as Pakistan seeks to build on macroeconomic stabilization after a prolonged balance-of-payments crisis, with authorities trying to shift the economy toward export-led growth and policy continuity.
“It was our firm commitment to the people of Pakistan that speedy and concrete steps would be taken to privatize loss-making state-owned enterprises that have been a burden on the economy,” Sharif said in a post on X. “The successful completion of the transparent and highly competitive bidding process for the privatization of PIA marks an important milestone in fulfilling that commitment.”
“The strong participation of our leading business groups and some of Pakistan’s most seasoned and respected investors is a powerful vote of confidence in our economy and its future,” he added.
The government has made privatization of state-owned enterprises a key pillar of its reform agenda, alongside changes to taxation, energy pricing and trade policy, as it seeks to stabilize the economy and restore investor confidence.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told an international news outlet Pakistan had reached a critical turning point, with macroeconomic stability and sustained reforms helping shift the economy from stabilization toward growth.
“Macroeconomic stability, sustained reforms and policy continuity are restoring confidence, shifting the economy from stabilization to export-led growth,” he said in an interview with USA Today, according to a statement issued by the finance ministry, adding that the government was opening new opportunities for domestic and global investors.
Aurangzeb said inflation had eased sharply, external balances had improved and foreign exchange reserves had risen above $14.5 billion, while Pakistan had recorded both a primary fiscal surplus and a current account surplus for the first time in several years.
The finance minister noted that economic growth remained insufficient to meet the needs of a fast-growing population, pointing out the importance of continuing structural reforms and encouraging investment in sectors such as agriculture, minerals, information technology and climate resilience.
Despite ongoing risks from global commodity prices, debt pressures and political uncertainty, Aurangzeb said the government remained committed to staying the reform course and engaging international partners through trade and investment.
