Syed Ali Shah:
Quetta: The Balochistan Assembly session turned tense on Friday as opposition lawmakers staged a walkout after strongly criticizing the provincial government over border trade restrictions and its refusal to digitize revenue records.
During the heated proceedings, opposition members including Khair Jan Baloch, Shahida Rauf, Rahmat Baloch, and Zabid Reki lashed out at the government for what they termed a “complete failure” in resuming trade activities at the Pak-Afghan and Pak-Iran borders. They argued that the closure of cross-border trade has deprived over two million people of their livelihoods, pushing families into economic despair.
Opposition member Maulana Hidayat ur Rehman earlier alleged that while the Punjab government was offering free electricity to its citizens, the people of Balochistan were left without jobs and income opportunities.
Tensions escalated further when Shahida Rauf of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) tabled a resolution demanding the digitalisation of revenue records. However, Speaker Captain (R) Abdul Khaliq Achakzai put the resolution to vote, and the majority of members rejected it. Opposition legislators accused the government of “shielding corrupt revenue staff” by blocking digitisation reforms, which they said could bring transparency and curb corruption.
The rejection of the resolution led to uproar in the assembly, prompting the opposition to stage a complete walkout from the session in protest.
Political observers say the dispute underscores long-standing issues of economic disparity, governance failures, and lack of transparency in revenue management, all of which continue to fuel opposition discontent in Balochistan.
