QUETTA, Mar 03 (NNI): Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has proposed forming a parliamentary committee on enforced disappearances in Balochistan to find a solution to the pressing issue of missing persons.
Addressing a news conference at the Balochistan Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Saturday, Bilawal exhorted all political groups to unite with the PPP on the matter of missing persons, acknowledging that no single party could address this issue unilaterally.
The former foreign minister said that the PPP-led Balochistan government would combat the menaces of terrorism and extremism in light of the National Action Plan (NAP), noting that terrorism had been one the biggest problems facing the province.
Bilawal said that the PPP would run this province, where Sarfraz Bugti has been elected the chief minister unopposed, in accordance with the vision of Benazir Bhutto, the slain former prime minister.
The PPP leader affirmed that Bugti-led provincial government would strive to address the challenges facing Balochistan. He said that he advised Bugti to pay his maiden visit as the CM to calamity-hit city of Gwadar and ensure uninterrupted relief efforts.
Bilawal averred that the PPP would relieve the people of Balochistan through its economic charter, adding that the provincial government would function with a conciliatory approach.
Bilawal Bhutto turned his guns towards Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai after PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) nominated the latter as their presidential nominee.
The SIC announced its decision today, nominating Achakzai to contest for the top constitutional post against PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, who is a joint candidate of the PML-N and other political parties part of the coalition set to form a government in the Centre.
Bilawal Bhutto said that Mahmood Khan Achakzai cannot call himself a “nationalist” as he becomes PTI candidate for president’s slot. However, the PPP chairman said, he would continue to hold dialogue with nationalist parties.
Out of 336, the alliance has 209 seats in the National Assembly so far while the opposition parties have 104 members with the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) being the largest party in the lower house.
In Punjab, PML-N is the largest political party with 194 seats while the PPP is in the majority in Sindh Assembly. Both the parties have also formed an alliance in the Balochistan Assembly.
Moreover, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, the SIC has over 85 lawmakers.
Zardari, who is competing in the presidential elections for the second time is in pole position to win the election and replace President Arif Alvi. NNI
