Balochistan Awami Party

Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) (Urdu: بلوچستان عوامی پارٹی (ب‌ع‌پ)‎); "Balochistan People's Party") is a political party based in the Balochistan province of Pakistan founded in 2018 by political dissidents of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) in Balochistan.[5]

Balochistan Awami Party

بلوچستان عوامی پارٹی
PresidentJam Kamal Khan[1]
FounderSaeed Hashmi and Manzoor Ahmed Kakar[2]
Founded29 March 2018 (2018-03-29)
IdeologyFederalism[3]
Progressivism[4]
Political positionCentre[4]
Colors   Green, White
Senate
13 / 104
National Assembly
5 / 342
Balochistan Assembly
24 / 65
Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Assembly
4 / 145
Party flag
Website
Official website

The party emerged as the largest party in Balochistan as a result of the 2018 Pakistani general election. It leads a coalition government in the province and is also a part of the ruling coalition in the National Assembly.

Origins

On 24 December 2015, Sanaullah Zehri of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Balochistan. His tenure lasted for two years, until on 2 January 2018, dissident MPAs of his own party rebelled against him and decided to support the opposition in a motion of no confidence against him. Fearing defeat, Zehri resigned as Chief Minister on 9 January 2018, and was replaced 4 days later by Abdul Quddus Bizenjo on 13 January. This was largely seen as a setback for the PML-N in the province.[6][7]

Two months later in the Senate elections, the PML-N failed to secure a single seat in the province. Instead, Independents supported by the new provincial government won 6 out of the 11 seats that were up for election. This was seen as another setback for the PML-N.

Furthermore, this group of senators, with the support of the provincial government, decided to launch their own candidate for the Election of Chairman in the senate. This group secured the backing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the Pakistan Peoples Party and many other parties which allowed them to elect their candidate Sadiq Sanjrani as Senate Chairman, securing 57 out of 103 votes.[8]

Foundation

Following these events, rumours emerged of a new political party being formed. On 29 March 2018, Saeed Hashmi and Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar announced the creation of the BAP and declared that it had the support of 32 out of 65 lawmakers in the Balochistan Assembly.[9]

On 16 May 2018, the party elected Jam Kamal Khan, former Federal Minister of State for Petroleum, as their leader.[10]

Elections

2018 election

The party has only fought one election in its existence: the 2018 Pakistani general election. In the election it fielded 67 candidates on all of the general seats in Balochistan, of which 19 were elected (15 PA, 4 NA).[11][12]

This result allowed the party to form the provincial government in the province. As well as this, they also aided the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in forming the federal government by supporting them with their 5 MNAs.[13]

Electoral performance

National Assembly
Election Leader Votes Seats Position Resulting government
# % # ±
2018 Jam Kamal Khan 319,348 0.60
5 / 342
 5 5th PTI coalition

Balochistan Assembly
Election Leader Votes Seats Position Resulting government
# % # ±
2018 Jam Kamal Khan 446,795 24.59
24 / 65
 24 1st BAP coalition

References
  1. "Jam Mir Kamal gets elected BAP chief, urges unity for Balochistan's rights". DAWN.COM. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  2. Correspondent, The Newspaper's Staff (10 June 2018). "BAP's election symbol changed to 'cow'". DAWN.COM.
  3. @HamidMirPAK (26 March 2018). "Home Minister of Balochistan @PakSarfrazbugti saying a new political party will be announced in few days he is also claiming that next Prime Minister of Pakistan will come from Balochistan" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. "Bugti confirms new political party to be announced soon". 24 March 2018.
  5. "PML-N dissidents, independents launch 'Balochistan Awami Party'". 29 March 2018.
  6. Shah, Syed Ali (9 January 2018). "Sanaullah Zehri resigns as Balochistan chief minister amid political crisis". DAWN.COM.
  7. Shah, Syed Ali (13 January 2018). "Abdul Quddus Bizenjo sworn in as new chief minister of Balochistan". DAWN.COM.
  8. "Sadiq Sanjrani: Pakistan's first senate chair from Balochistan". www.aljazeera.com.
  9. "New political party launched in Balochistan". www.geo.tv.
  10. Correspondent, The Newspaper's Staff (17 May 2018). "Jam Mir Kamal gets elected BAP chief, urges unity for Balochistan's rights". DAWN.COM.
  11. "List of all BAP candidates for General Election 2018". www.geo.tv.
  12. "Pakistan Election 2018: Results, Party Position, Candidates, News, Live Updates". www.geo.tv.
  13. "BAP announces support for PTI in National Assembly". Geo.tv. 31 July 2018.
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