ISLAMABAD: A new coalition government is likely to take shape in Balochistan within a “few days,” political leaders and government officials said on Tuesday.

The new set-up will be cobbled together by all coalition partners in the erstwhile Nawab Aslam Raisani administration.

Politicians and senior government officials said that four political parties - Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl JUI-F), Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) - and Balochistan National Party-Awami (BNP-A) will form the new government with the help of independent lawmakers.

“A new government will be put in place a few days before the dissolution of the assemblies,” a senior government official said, requesting anonymity.

“Under the Constitution, restoration of the provincial government is essential for the formation of an interim set-up in the province,” the official added.

President Asif Zardari had deposed the Raisani administration on the advice of Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf and imposed governor’s rule in the province on Jan.13 following a four-day-long protest sit-in by the Hazara Shia community in Quetta.

Key coalition partners - JUI-F and BNP-A - and some legislators from the PPP had opposed the move and instead called for an “in-house change.”

Last month, they threatened a province-wide campaign against the “unconstitutional step” of the president. The government did not budge. Instead, a joint sitting of parliament was convened to validate the governor’s rule.

Under the constitution, the president is bound to get a parliamentary nod for his proclamation within 60 days failing which would result in the restoration of the Raisani government.

The joint session was, however, postponed after a key government ally the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) refused to validate governor’s rule.

Aurangzeb Khan Kasi, president of ANP’s Balochistan chapter, claimed that the new government will be installed “within a few days.”

“The PPP leadership has taken other parties into confidence on the matter,” Kasi said.

The PML-Q, which is also privy to the plan, opposes the possible move.

“It will have a strong reaction from the people,” Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said.

He was referring to the Hazara Shia community that had called for the dismissal of the “incompetent” Raisani administration.