Balochistan Assembly Erupts Over Merger of Levies Force into Police; Opposition Walks Out in Protest

Quetta: The Balochistan Assembly witnessed a stormy session on Thursday after opposition members vehemently protested the move to merge the Levies Force into the police system, following a letter written by a former Member of National Assembly (MNA) from the erstwhile FATA region, Haji Shah Jehan. The opposition staged a walkout from the session, expressing strong disapproval of what they termed as external interference in Balochistan’s affairs.
The session, chaired by Deputy Speaker Ghazala Gola, began with a delay of one hour and fifteen minutes. Speaking on a point of order, Leader of the Opposition Mir Younis Aziz Zehri criticized the federal government’s response to the former FATA MNA’s letter, stating that the Prime Minister had instructed the Chief Secretary of Balochistan to begin the merger process without consulting the provincial assembly.
Zehri said that Balochistan’s decisions are being dictated by people from other provinces, sidelining the provincial assembly’s resolutions. He lamented that the Prime Minister had failed to act on his own commitments, including the Quetta-Karachi highway project, but was quick to act on an outsider’s suggestion.
National Party’s Mir Rehmat Saleh Baloch said that it was alarming that a former MNA was being imposed on Balochistan, weakening local bureaucracy and institutions. He argued that law and order should be viewed separately from terrorism, pointing out that while billions are spent annually on anti-terror institutions, their performance remains unquestioned.
Maulana Hidayat ur Rehman of Haq Do Tehreek said the province was being ignored in federal decision-making and questioned who truly makes decisions for Balochistan. JUI’s Mir Zabit Ali Reki stressed that the authority to decide Balochistan’s future lies with its own people and elected representatives.
In response, Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti said that the opposition was free to protest but attributed their walkout to the “heat of June.” Provincial Minister Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran added that the government has full constitutional authority to make such decisions and that the Levies Force matter was ultimately a provincial one.
PML-N’s Zarak Khan Mandokhail questioned the opposition’s logic, asking whether a former MNA is not a Pakistani or whether FATA is not part of Pakistan. He, too, attributed the protest to the hot June weather.
Parliamentary Secretary Barkat Rind addressed earlier claims of illegal trawling in coastal areas, asserting that no such activity was taking place and that the Chief Minister had already issued strict directives. Patrols are being conducted daily, and action is ongoing with cases being registered in areas like Pasni.
Another Parliamentary Secretary, Majeed Badini, appealed to the Chief Minister to implement the Kisan Card program promptly and provide relief to farmers in disaster-hit Jaffarabad by waiving agricultural loans.
The session concluded amid unresolved tensions and a deepening divide between the government and the opposition over control and governance issues in Balochistan.