PML-N,PkMP back slain minister’s borther for by-polls

By Malik Siraj Akbar

QUETTA: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is succeeding in gaining the full support of all major political parties in Balochistan elect Tahir Mehmood, a brother of Shafiq Ahmed Khan, the former education minister of Balochistan who was shot dead last month, as a member of the Balochistan Assembly.

The PPP says the purpose of giving the ticket to the slain minister’s brother to contest and win the seat from PB-I Quetta unopposed is to send a clear message to ‘terrorists” that they cannot undermine PPP’s resolve to fight terrorism in the country. As the seat for the ex-education minister, who belonged to the ruling PPP, fell vacant after his murder, the PPP leadership collectively decided to bring Shafiq’s brother to the Balochistan Assembly in order to acknowledge his contributions for party and democracy.

The Pashtunkhawa Milli Awami Party announced on Friday to fully back PPP’s candidate in the electoral run to express solidarity with the family of the killed minister. Thus, the Pashtunkhawa Milli Awami Party will not pit any candidates in PB-I for the by-elections to pave the way for unopposed election of the PPP candidate.

The decision was made after PPPP Balochistan president Senator Lashkari Raisani visited the central secretariat of the Pashunkhawa Milli  Awami Party and met with the party’s provincial president Usman Kakar and former parliamentary leader Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal.

Raisani, while lauding the role of the PkMP for supporting the democratic process in the country as well as the province, sought the support of the Pashtun nationalist party in extending full support to its candidate to win the vacant seat unopposed. He said the PPP wanted to send a clear message to the terrorists that they could not defeat democracy and democratic leaders with their violent actions. He appreciated the role of Shafiq Ahmed in brining democracy in the country and fighting the dictatorial regime of Pervez Musharraf.

In return, PKMP president Usman Kakar said his party opposed the ongoing cycle of target killings in Quetta by some “racists elements” who wanted to hijack the peace of Balochistan. He assured that every PKMP worker would be asked to campaign for the PPP candidate so that the people of Balochistan showed their commitment to communal harmony between the people of various ethnic and sectarian communities.

Likewise, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Nawaz) announced its unconditional support to the PPP candidate in the upcoming by-elections, after a meeting between Senator Raisani and the provincial president of PML-N, Sardar Yaqoob Nasir. Nasir told the media that his party believed in the continuity of democratic process and regretted the killing of Shafiq Ahmed. Therefore, the PML-N would not field any candidate against the late minister’s brother.

The Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF) had accepted responsibility for the killing of the minister.