Jam Kamal bows out a day before no-trust vote

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal resigned from the office Sunday evening, reports Geo News citing the CM’s House spokesperson. The governor accepted the resignation, his secretariat confirmed.

Jam Kamal tendered his resignation ahead of no-confidence voting to be held on Monday. In a tweet earlier on Sunday, Jam Kamal lay the blame for any loss in Balochistan's development squarely on the opposition's Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), some Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) members and a "few mafias" and suggested that Prime Minister Imran Khan take a good look at "his people".

In an earlier tweet, the chief minister said that “those hungry for power and greed” can go ahead and fulfil this wish of theirs. Jam Kamal also said that the prime minister should tell certain federal members to not "fiddle" with Balochistan's internal matters and give some "space to the PTI's provincial hierarchy" so that it can play its role at the provincial level in Balochistan.

With the addition of four "missing" lawmakers of the provincial assembly, the group of the Balochistan Awami Party’s (BAP) disgruntled members has secured the required number in the provincial assembly to oust the Jam Kamal Khan-led government in the province.

The four MPAs, who had gone missing on the day when the disgruntled grouphad tabled the no-confidence motion in the assembly, arrived in Quetta on Sunday and declared their support for the group.

Addressing a press conference in the provincial capital, the group proved its majority as 39 out of the 65 lawmakers were present at the venue. PPP’s leader and former chief minister of Balochistan, Sanaullah Khan Zehri, have also thrown his weight behind the disgruntled group. Speaking on the occasion, the splinter group’s Mir Zahoor Buledi thanked PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari for the support. It is pertinent to mention here that Balochistan Assembly Speaker Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo had fixed October 25 for voting on the no-confidence motion against the CM Jam Kamal Khan. Speaking on the development, Leader of Opposition in the Provincial Assembly, Malik Sikandar Advocate, said that Jam Kamal will have to "go home at all costs" because the splinter group now has the required number to oust him.

"All 40 members have decided to go to the provincial assemble together to cast the vote of no-confidence against Kamal," Sikandar said, adding that the party will decide on a future course of action once Jam Kamal is sent packing. "The upcoming government will be better than Kamal's government," Sikandar promised.