While the worst ever ruckus in the National Assembly remained confined within Parliament’s premises, opposition legislators and supporters in Balochistan clashed with police at the gate of the Provincial Assembly on the day the province’s 2021-2022 budget was to be presented. What happened In both places was highly unfortunate. What is more, in both places, the worst could have been avoided had better sense prevailed in the PTI and BAP leaderships. In Islamabad there is a respite for the time being. In Balochistan the opposition is blocking the highways all over the province
Opposition MPAs in Balochistan had proposals that they wanted to be included in the budget document before it was tabled in the Assembly. The opposition MPAs maintained that their constituents wanted solutions to their problems related to water supply, electricity, gas, health and education. There was nothing wrong with the demand as the allocation of development funds has to be equitable. Neglecting constituencies that did not vote for the ruling coalition amounts to punishing the opposition voters. The Chief Minister was simply unwilling to hold talks with the opposition on the issue.
For four days the opposition members, comprising lawmakers from the JUI, BNP(M), PKMAP as well as independent candidates, protested all over the province beside staging a peaceful, round-the-clock sit-in outside the Provincial Assembly in Quetta. An opposition MNA even suggested postponing the presentation of the budget for five days to enable both sides to reach an understanding through talks. The proposal was disdainfully rejected. This led the opposition to announce that it would not allow the holding of the budget session.
CM Jam Kamal Alyani had enough time to hold talks with the opposition to resolve the situation peacefully, which should be the preference of the province’s chief executive. A hubris-ridden BAP leadership was however unwilling to resolve the issue through negotiations. Police was ordered to disperse the protesters by use of force.
The budget has been presented under the protection of the police without caring for the consequences of an uncompromising attitude in a highly sensitive province where peace and security are strongly dependent on accommodation. There is still a need on the part of the BAP leadership to reach a negotiated settlement on the budget instead of consigning the province to a wave of protests, shutter-down strikes and blocking of highways.
