April 08, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 1, 1429

QUETTA, April 7: Aslam Bhootani and Syed Matiullah Agha were elected unopposed as speaker and deputy speaker of the Balochistan assembly on Monday. They were joint candidates of a coalition which is likely to form the provincial government.

Aslam Bhootani of the PML ‘like-minded group’ and Shafiq Ahmed Khan of the PPP had filed their nomination papers for the post of speaker, but the latter withdrew his candidature in favour of Mr Bhootani.

MMA’s Syed Matiullah Agha was elected deputy speaker because no other candidate had filed papers against him.

The speaker and the deputy speaker will take the oath of their offices on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, PPP’s candidate for the post of chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani said that ending military operation, release of political workers and financial management would be main challenges for the coalition government.

Talking to newsmen before taking oath as MPA, he said that he would try to initiate talks with militants to end insurgency in the province.

He said that dialogue was the only way to resolve the issues to restore law and order and to create harmony between Balochistan and the federation.

He said that talks with militants could succeed if the military operation was stopped and political workers, including Sardar Akhtar Mengal, were released.

MMA parliamentary leader Maulana Wasay said that national reconciliation should be expanded to settle tribal conflicts through negotiations.

PML-Q parliamentary leader Jaffar Khan Mandokhel said that his party with 20 members could not form government because its former allies, the MMA and the BNP (Awami), had refused to support it.