QUETTA: Balochistan Awami Party’s (BAP) leader Mir Abdul Qaddos Bizenjo will certainly be elected as the new Chief Minister of Balochistan unopposed as no other candidate has submitted nomination papers for the post.
The development comes a day after PTI Parliamentary Leader Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind announced that he was pulling out of the race and backing Bizenjo for the chief minister’s slot, bringing an end to the political void in the province.
Balochistan Governor Syed Zahoor Ahmed Agha has summoned a session of the Balochistan Assembly on Oct 29 (Friday) for the election of the new leader of the house and its speaker. Subsequently, the oath-taking ceremony of the new chief minister will take place at the governor house in Quetta tomorrow at 4pm.
The chief minister’s seat was vacated after former Balochistan chief minister Jam Kamal Khan stepped down from the post on Sunday. Following his announcement, disgruntled members of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and the Opposition celebrated their triumph by flashing victory signs.
Speaking to the media after filing the nomination papers, BAP spokesperson Abdul Rehman Khetran said that this will be a “historic” government where all 65 members of the provincial assembly will be on the same page.
He said that he and senior BAP leader Sardar Mohammad Saleh Bhootani had proposed and seconded Bizenjo as the new chief minister. He said that the new chief minister will be “within the reach” of the common man and everyone will be respected.
On Tuesday, the federal government announced its support for any candidate the BAP named as the new Balochistan CM. Defence Minister Khattak at a press conference in Islamabad after a meeting with the Sanjrani, had announced the government’s decision to support the BAP candidate.
“We will support the decision of the majority within the BAP,” Khattak said. While responding to another question about whether the federal government will support Bizenjo, who has been nominated by BAP, Khattak said that it is BAP that has to reach a decision regarding Bizenjo.
