LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Deputy Emir Liaquat Baloch has urged the prime minister to convene an all-parties conference in Quetta to address Balochistan’s pressing issues.
Addressing a national dialogue seminar organised by the Sanobar Institute, Liaquat Baloch said Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa faced different challenges and should not be treated as identical cases.
He stressed that national political and democratic leadership must not distance itself from Balochistan and called for collective efforts to resolve the province’s problems.
During his visit, Liaquat Baloch met Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former federal ministers Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Daniyal Aziz, Nadeem Afzal Chan and Khurram Dastgir.
In his meeting with Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, the two discussed the challenges facing Balochistan in detail. Bugti emphasised that the constitutional principles of provincial rights and ownership must not be violated under any circumstances.
Liaquat Baloch said Pakistan had been subjected to continuous political experiments since 1958. He criticised democratic leaders, whether elected through Form 45 or Form 47, for allegedly disregarding constitutional limits.
He also expressed concern over worsening economic conditions, saying people were increasingly falling below the poverty line.
The Jamaat-e-Islami leader further argued that delays in convening an all-parties conference by opposition parties were weakening the opposition. He urged the prime minister to provide economic relief to the public by abolishing the levy on petroleum products and immediately ending what he described as the burden of independent power producers (IPPs) on the people.
