Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) President Sardar Akhtar Mengal on Friday claimed the PML-N-led government exploited the coalition — of which his party was a member.
“To streamline their own matters, they introduced the NAB amendment — they passed 56 bills in one day on the floor of the assembly — [but] they did not pass even one bill of ours,” he said in an interview.
The BNP-M, which was previously allied with the then-ruling PTI in the Centre in 2018, joined hands with the PDM to eventually bring down Imran Khan’s government. Mengal’s party has since been vocal about its uneasiness with the PML-N-led coalition’s policies, hinting on several occasions at parting ways with it.
In the interview, he said PML-N, PPP, and PTI had disappointed him and he “will now think not once, but 100 times” before entering a coalition with any of the three major parties.
“For the sake of [our] votes they call us back and when the job is done, they want to be rid of us,” he said.
When asked about whether he felt he was exploited by the PDM government, Mengal added: “Everyone here only uses each other.”
Mengal said that when he met Shehbaz for the coalition of PDM, he told the then-prime minister that since they were now in agreement, they should not, as has been the case in the past, leave Balochistan to the mercy of the “establishment”.
“Shehbaz Sharif … wrapped us [BNP-M] up and placed us in their [establishment] pockets,” he said.
He stated that the matter of missing persons was raised when the PDM government was formed and when nothing was done about it, the Mengal group started resigning from the cabinet.
“After two ministers resigned, they told us that we should sit down and talk,” Mengal said.
The BNP-M leader went on to claim that the coalition government was formed with the help of the military establishment.
“I met [then-Army chief Gen Qamar Javed] Bajwa after submitting the motiom for no-confidence and he was ambivalent. He was trying to keep both the PDM and chairman PTI happy so that he could be with whoever wins,” he said.
“Gen Bajwa used to tell the PDM government and chairman PTI to go easy … he did not want to upset either one of them,” he added.
According to Mengal, if Bajwa did not have his differences with Imran Khan, the PDM coalition would never have formed.
While talking about the elections, he said that a minute after the PDM was formed, it was decided that after the movement succeeds, the country should go for immediate elections.
Mengal also said that PML-N party supremo, Nawaz Sharif’s return raised questions.
“The unfortunate thing about this country has always been that decisions are never taken by the people and the manner in which he has returned — could he not have returned a year earlier?” he said.
He stated that Nawaz’s return just as the election draws near raises a “big question mark” and it remained to be seen how he would explain it himself.
“Nawaz’s return raises doubts … he should have at least taken his former allies in confidence,” he said.
He lamented that the government could not deliver on anything besides handling their own cases.
“I do not think any major party would want elections … if elections do take place then it is unlikely that the parties that were in the coalition will win. We do not even know whether the PDM still exists or if the end of the PTI’s government marked the end for the PDM as well,” he said.
