QUETTA: Dr Abdul Malik Baloch was elected unopposed to the position of Chief Minister Balochistan on Saturday.
Nomination forms for the post of chief minister were to be submitted on June 8 in the Balochistan Assembly secretariat from 10am to 2pm and the election was to be held on Sunday.
However, as no one filed a nomination challenging Dr Baloch, the National Party candidate was elected to the slot unopposed.
“In the greater interest of province and country, we have decided not to field any candidate against Dr Malik’s nomination. Dr Malik is competent enough to lead all political forces in such critical times for Balochistan and Pakistan,” said Maulana Wasay, parliamentary leader of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F).
“Dr Malik's nomination as CM is good omen for the country and province,” said Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhel of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q.
Malik thanked all political forces and expressed the determination that he would discharge his responsibilities impartially.
All political forces would be taken into confidence, he said.
“It is in my party's manifesto to bring back missing persons and put an end to the dumping of mutilated dead bodies in Balochistan,” he said.
Hinting at Baloch separatists, the new provincial chief minister said: “We will speak to our ‘angry’ brothers, and will try to take measures to bring them on the negotiations table.”
Dr Abdul Malik Baloch is the first chief executive of the province who is neither a tribal chieftain nor member of any family of former rulers of princely states.
A medical doctor by profession, he belongs to a middle-class and educated family of Kech district.
Born in Sigenisar village near Turbat in the family of Haji Abdul Salam, a zamindar, Dr Malik got his early education from a village school and did his intermediate from the Government Collage, Turbat.
He completed his MBBS from the Bolan Medical College and later specialised in eye surgery. He ran a clinic in Turbat for a brief period before entering active politics.
—With reporting by Syed Ali Shah in Quetta.
