QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Malik Baloch submitted his resignation late on Wednesday evening and it was accepted by Governor Mohammad Khan Achakzai.

According to official sources, the governor has summoned a special session of the Balochistan Assembly on Thursday to elect Sardar Sanaullah Zehri as the new leader of the house.

An official of the Balochistan Assembly told Dawn that before electing the leader of the house, the assembly would elect speaker and deputy speaker.

The post of the speaker has been lying vacant since May 22 following the resignation of Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali.

The central leadership of PML-N has nominated Ms Raheela Durrani as its candidate for the post of speaker.

Deputy speaker Mir Abdul Qadoos Bezenjo has also resigned. “I have resigned from the post of deputy speaker,” he told Dawn, adding that as the acting speaker he had accepted the resignation. But there are reports that Mr Bezenjo has withdrawn his resignation, but he has denied the reports.

Dr Malik Baloch, who was heading a coalition of the National Party, Pakhtunkhawa Milli Awami Party and PML-N, resigned under the Murree Accord reached between the three parties.

Under the accord, Dr Malik Baloch was elected chief minister for two and a half years. PML-N President Nawaz Sharif has nominated Sardar Sanaullah Zehri as his party’s candidate for the remaining term of the coalition government.

It is learnt that the new government will comprise the PML-N, National Party and PkMAP. The portfolios they held in the outgoing government will remain unchanged, but the senior minister will be from NP.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2015