ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will wait for its “rebel faction” of 15 or so Balochistan legislators to make their move before deciding which candidate to support as the next chief minister.

Sarfaraz Bugti, Saleh Bhootani, Jan Jamali and Nawabzada Changez Marri are being tipped to succeed Sanaullah Zehri, who resigned as the chief minister on Tuesday.

Jan Achakzai, a PML-N leader from Balochistan, said that a decision on whether to support a candidate for the chief minister slot, or to sit in opposition, was yet to be made. “This is just the beginning,” he said, adding that the PML-N would sit down with its allies before making a decision on whether to field a consensus candidate or sit on the opposition benches. He said his party wanted to continue the development of Balochistan and build on the successes achieved in the war against terrorism, so the province could be rid of the menace.

Federal Minister and PML-N Information Secretary Mushahidullah Khan said that the party was keeping a close eye on the situation in Balochistan. “We will have to see what violation of party discipline has been committed by the legislators. If they voted against Zehri, only then would the question of violating party discipline arise? We are monitoring the situation and will make our decisions accordingly.”

Senior PML-N leader Senator Pervez Rashid said that the ‘rebel’ legislators should have come to the party leadership with their grievances, but they did not do so. “We will wait and see what the people with 15 or 16 votes do in the days to come, and will plan our moves accordingly.”

Although the PML-N insists that the outcome of the leadership crisis in Balochistan would not affect the results of the upcoming Senate elections, Rashid said the next 10 days would be extremely important in determining whether ‘other elements’ were behind the move to unseat Zehri.

Led by Jan Jamali, the group of PML-N ‘rebels’ has claimed that it would find Zehri’s successor in a few days.

“The next chief minister will be of our choosing. We have the support of more than 15 PML-N lawmakers and consultations are under way between the party and its allies,” Jamali said.

He revealed that he was not on the same page with party chief PML-N president Nawaz Sharif. “Sharif is more interested in the affairs of Punjab, not Balochistan. I will remain in the PML-N, since my family has been associated with the party since 1933, but the chief minister will not be chosen in Lahore.”