We are trying to solve Balochistan issue politically: Dr Malik

LAHORE: Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid on Sunday said they did not agree with the tribunal’s decision, which had passed the judgment beyond the set jurisdiction, adding that Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had not been declared responsible for any wrongdoing in the decision.
The tribunal, he said, talked about irregularities but the Judicial Commission had already declared that they did not affect the election results; therefore, it could neither be said that there was any rigging nor the election be nullified.
Talking to Najam Sethi and Muneeb Farooq in Geo News programme ‘Aapas ki Baat’, Pervaiz said the Election Commission should be punished for its mistakes, not his party or the voters of NA-122.
Snatching the right of representation from an elected assembly member wasn’t justified, he said, adding that a sentence should have suggested for Imran Khan, if the candidates were to be punished.
The minister said the tribunal should have written in the verdict, if Ayaz Sadiq was the sole beneficiary of irregularities, but it didn’t. So why the PML-N was being punished, he questioned.
Pervaiz said the PML-N wasn’t afraid of elections but they did not want to set bad example through a decision and would not allow the erroneous tradition of punishing others instead of the guilty. He made it clear that they would move the court to seek justice.
He said they would respect the decision of electoral reforms committee on the new Election Commission. He remarked Imran was fond of demanding resignations, adding that if his desire for resignations was accepted then he had even called for the prime minister’s resignation. No one could be punished on anyone’s demand, he noted.
Pervaiz said the party would decide whether to retain Ayaz Sadiq as the speaker after he was reinstated by the court.
In his analysis on NA-122, Sethi said the tribunal judge, instead of law, relied on his conscience or politics and did not even discuss the allegation levelled by Imran on Ayaz Sadiq. The decision was poor as per the law and did not seem to be legal, he added.
According to Sethi, if the PML-N is not agreeing with the tribunal verdict then Imran too had the same stance on the findings of Judicial Commission. All the four provincial elections commissioners should have resigned after the Judicial Commission report but it is not possible now because the local government polls are just round the corner. However, they should do so immediately after the LG elections.
Imran’s demand concerning the resignations of the Election Commission members is not wrong but threatening to hold sit-in and protest is not appropriate and democratic attitude.
Expressing his views in the programme, Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch said the Balochistan issue was political in nature and they wanted to solve that through political means.
The chief minister said he was engaging the angry Baloch people with a mandate given by the political and military leadership.
He said the insurgency was a result of deprivations which needed to be addressed for sustainable peace.
Dr Malik said he had briefed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on solving the basic problems of Balochistan, adding that the previous government did not have the mandate to pacify the angry Baloch people.