—File Photo

ISLAMABAD: The Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP) on Wednesday announced to part ways with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led (PTI) coalition government after remaining part of the coalition for around 2 years.

This was announced by BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal during the National Assembly session here in Islamabad.

“I am officially announcing that our party is separating itself from the PTI government, said Akhtar Mengal. The BNP-M chief said that he will remain a part of the National Assembly and keep raising their problems in the lower house of parliament.

Last year, Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) and the government come to an agreement, as the latter accepted all of the six points put forth by the opposition party.

According to an agreement, the govt announced to increase the quota of government jobs for Balochistan to 6 percent.

A committee had been formed on the issue on missing persons and some progress will be witnessed on the matter soon, the minister said.

The tube-wells in Balochistan will be run by solar energy, while the electricity will be provided on subsidy to the province, Khattak said.

It must be noted that the BNP-M and PTI had signed a six-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) in August 2018 for an alliance at the Centre.

Currently, BNP enjoys four seats in National Assembly and one in Senate. Before the withdrawal of BNP-Mengal, PTI had 156 seats and with all its coalition parties, the total number of surged to 186.

The six points of memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between PTI and BNP in August 2018 are: Recovery of missing persons; Implementation of the National Action Plan; Implementation of six percent quota for Balochistan in the federal government; Immediate repatriation of Afghan refugees; and Construction of dams in the province to resolve the acute water crisis.

The alliance with the PTI was only at the Centre, while the BNP-M’s alliance with the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl in Balochis­tan continued at the provincial level.—NNI