Date:02/12/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/12/02/stories/2002120204311100.htm

International

Compromise candidate elected Baluchistan Chief Minister

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Dec. 1. Pro-Musharraf parties and the alliance of religious parties, Muttahida Majlis-e-amal (MMA), have succeeded in forging an alliance in the Baluchistan province and their joint candidate for Chief Minister, Jam Mahammad Yousuf, got elected today on the floor of the Assembly.

In the provincial election to Baluchistan no party had secured a simple majority though the MMA had emerged as a major political force with 14 seats in a House of 60 members.

Despite differences at the national level, the pro-Musharraf parties and the MMA worked out a post-electoral pact in Baluchistan. As a result, they have got their nominees for the posts of Chief Minister, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Assembly elected.

The pact could pave the way for a similar understanding at the national level. The significance of the understanding also lies in the fact that the Prime Minister, Mir Zafrullah Khan Jamali, hails from Baluchistan.

Mr. Yousuf got 47 votes against Mohammad Akbar Mengal of the Baluchistan Movement who obtained 12 votes. The members of the Pakistan Oppressed Nationalities Movement (PONAM) and other anti-Musharraf groups supported him.

The development is good news for Mr. Jamali who was elected Prime Minister on November 21 with a margin of just one vote. The Prime Minister is required to obtain a confidence vote from the Assembly in the next 54 days.

With the election of Mr. Yusuf, the electoral process in three out of the four provinces is completed. Sindh is the only province where the process has not begun though election for the State Assembly was held on October 10 along with the rest of the country.

The inaugural session of the Sindh Assembly originally scheduled last week has been postponed indefinitely by the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, following representation by the pro-Musharraf parties that there is a political deadlock in government formation.

Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party is the single largest party in the Sindh Assembly and has 67 members in a House of 160 members. The Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) is the second largest group. There were efforts by the pro-Musharraf parties to form a government with the help of the MQM. However, the talks collapsed after the MQM decided to withdraw support to the Jamali Government complaining that his Government had failed to implement the promise to abolish "no go areas" in the port city of Karachi.

Gen. Musharraf's decision to indefinitely postpone the Sindh Assembly inaugural session has evoked sharp reaction from anti-Musharraf parties. They have alleged that efforts were on to split the party on the lines of what happened at the national level just before Mr. Jamali was elected PM.

However, it appears that Mr. Jamali and his colleagues are willing to allow the PPP to form the government in Sindh if it is prepared to extend support at the national level as a quid pro quo. The Information Minister, Sheikh Rashid, has conceded that the single largest party should be allowed to form the government in Sindh but at the same time said that the PPP supremo, Benazir Bhutto, should "lower" her demands for an understanding with the pro-Musharraf parties.