QUETTA: The National Party has intensified its push for timely and transparent local government elections in the provincial capital, convening a major meeting of its candidates and officials from all four towns of Quetta.
The meeting, chaired by the party’s central secretary-general, Mir Kabir Muhammad Shahi, saw robust participation from key leaders including Provincial President Aslam Baloch, central vice president Dr. Ishaq Baloch, and MPAs Khair Jan Baloch and Kulsoom Niaz Baloch. Representatives from Sariab, Chalti, Zarghoon, and Techno Town presented reports, reaffirming the party’s commitment to the democratic process.
In his address, Mir Kabir Muhammad Shahi issued a strong appeal to the public, urging them to reject candidates from parties that have sought judicial intervention to delay the polls. He accused these parties of wanting to maintain an administrator-led system to facilitate corruption. “They are committing billions of rupees in corruption through the administrator, which is why they do not want local government elections,” Shahi asserted, vowing that the National Party would actively contest these legal challenges.
Provincial President Aslam Baloch framed the election within a broader political context, alleging that the polls are being held under “imposed rulers” who had themselves “stolen” previous elections. He criticized these same forces for now approaching the courts to postpone the Quetta local government elections, claiming it was a sign of their public rejection.
The meeting concluded with a unified call for Quetta to be governed by a publicly elected mayor rather than a bureaucrat, positioning the National Party as a primary advocate for democratic municipal governance amid ongoing legal and political controversies.
Meanwhile the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Balochistan has intensified its drive for financial transparency, issuing recovery notices worth Rs 22 billion to various provincial departments over the past year and successfully retrieving Rs 8 billion so far.
PAC Chairman Asghar Tareen, in an interview with a private TV channel, stated that the actions mark a critical step toward stabilizing the province’s financial health and ensuring public accountability. He emphasized that the recovered amount has been deposited into the national treasury, reinforcing governance and fiscal discipline.
