QUETTA: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Friday nominated party leader Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhail for the position of Balochistan governor.
Mandokhail, who is the president of the PML-N’s provincial chapter since 2023, vowed to serve the country and the nation as a governor, saying that he will play the role of a bridge between the province and the Centre.
"I am grateful to party supremo Nawaz Sharif for nominating me for the prestigious office," said Mandokhail while speaking to Geo News after his nomination.
Mandokhail will replace Abdul Wali Kakar, who is a leader of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) and has been serving as the province's governor since March 2023.
Earlier, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) nominated two loyalists as Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governors.
It is pertinent to mention here that after the February 8 polls, PML-N and PPP agreed to form a coalition in the Centre wherein the latter, agreed to support the former in government formation after none of the two parties managed to secure simple majority in the lower house.
Following several rounds of talks held between both sides, it was decided that the PPP would get various constitutional posts including Punjab and KP governor posts along with the office of the president, as well as the Senate chairmanship and National Assembly's deputy speakership.
Under the deal, the two parties formed a coalition government in Balochistan with the PPP getting the chief minister's slot while the PML-N was allotted governorship.
Mandokhail was born on December 26, 1956, in Quetta. He completed his matriculation from St Francis Grammar School and masters from Balochistan University.
He entered into politics in 1974 through student politics and was also the president of Muslim Student Federation (MSF).
The politician first contested the election from Zhob on a provincial seat on the Pakistan Muslim League Quaid's (PML-Q) ticket in 1988.
He also served as the education minister from 1990 to 1993, finance minister from 1993 to 1996, and home minister from 1997 to 1999.
In 2002, Mandokhail contested the polls on PML-Q's ticket and won. Moreover, after his win in the 2013 elections, he was assigned the portfolio of three departments — Board of Revenue, Excise and Transport.
He contested the 2018 elections on PML-N's ticket but was defeated by Balochistan Awami Party's (BAP) candidate Mitha Khan.
In the 2024 elections, he contested on PML-N's ticket from his Zhob constituency but was defeated by a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) candidate.
On Friday, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari named two senior party leaders — Sardar Saleem Haider Khan and Faisal Karim Kundi — for the key positions of Punjab and KP governorship.
Haider — a PPP loyalist — belongs to Punjab’s Attock district who also served as a former federal minister and prime minister’s aide for overseas Pakistanis in the previous tenure of the PML-N government.
Additionally, the politician is also the president of the Bilawal-led party’s Rawalpindi division.
Saleem will replace Governor Baligh Ur Rehman — a senior PML-N leader who assumed the office on May 30, 2022.
Meanwhile, PPP's Kundi, who has been nominated for the KP governor's slot, is expected to take oath today, sources told Geo News.
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