Centre to support BAP’s choice for Balochistan CM post

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has announced its support for any candidate the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) names as the new chief minister of Balochistan.

The chief minister's seat was vacated after former Balochistan CM Jam Kamal Khan stepped down from the post on Sunday. Following his announcement, disgruntled members of the BAP and the Opposition, who had gathered at Balochistan Assembly speaker Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo's residence, celebrated their triumph by flashing a victory sign.

Following CM Khan's resignation, Bizenjo had also resigned from his post. Today, Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak at a press conference in Islamabad after a meeting with the Senate chairman, announced the government's decision to support the BAP candidate.

“We will support the decision of the majority within the BAP,” Khattak said, when asked who the Centre would support as the new Balochistan chief minister. 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.

We will support the decision made by the parliamentary group of BAP, he said. Earlier in the day, PTI Balochistan’s parliamentary committee said it has decided to nominate MPA Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind as the candidate for Balochistan chief minister.

The decision was made at a meeting chaired by Rind held in Quetta to discuss the current political situation of the province. Balochistan MPAs Mir Naimat Zehri, Umar Khan Jamali, Deputy Speaker of Balochistan Assembly Babar Moosakhail, Mubin Khilji, and Farida Rind attended the meeting.

The meeting mutually agreed upon nominating Rind as the candidate for the chief minister’s post and Sardar Babar Moosakhail as the speaker for Balochistan assembly. During the meeting, a two-member committee was also formed to communicate with the allied parties in Balochistan.

It was stated during the meeting that PTI has voted for the allied parties in the past for the appointment of the leader of the House, speaker of the assembly, and in senate elections several times.