QUETTA: Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo has been elected president and Dr Yasin Baloch secretary general of the National Party (NP) in the party elections held on the last day of a meeting of the national council on Tuesday.

Other central and provincial office-bearers of the party have been elected unopposed.

Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch administered the oath to the new president, secretary general and office-bearers of the party.

In the election for the president, Mr Bizenjo obtained 333 votes from party’s councillors against 132 votes of veteran Baloch leader Dr Hayee Baloch.

The names and positions of new office-bearers of the party are: Mir Tahir Bizenjo, senior vice president; Dr Hassan Nasir, deputy secretary general; Mehrab Marri, joint secretary; Haji Fida Mohammad Dashti, finance secretary; Mir Jan Mohammad Buledi, secretary information; Nadir Ali Chalgeri, advocate secretary for human rights affairs; Dr Shama Ishaq, secretary for women affairs; and Zar Ali Khan, secretary research.

The names of vice presidents are: Rajab Ali Rind (Balochistan) Syeda Ghulam Fatima (Punjab), Engineer Hameed Baloch (Sindh) and Sher Zaman Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

Central committee members of the party are Mir Shafqat Langove, Dr Ishaq Baloch, Sardar Asif Jamal­dini, Khair Bakhsh Baloch, Niaz Baloch, Talib Hussain, Ejaz Ahmed Afridi, Malik Nazeer Awan, Syed Ziaullah, Aslam Baloch, Abdul Rasool Baloch, Khoda Akram Bal­o­ch, Mir Kabir Mohammad Shai, Wahid Rahim, Khalid Baloch, Miran Bakhsh Baloch, Kohda Ali Mohammad, Changez Hayee Baloch, Saeed Baloch, Abdul Karim Baloch, Haji Abdul Wahid, Haji Saleh Baloch, Mohammad Jan Dashti, Hameed Baloch and Aid Sohrabi.

Around 500 delegates from across the country participated in the council session organised in a local hotel.

Speaking after the oath-taking ceremony, Abdul Malik termed the session very successful and said the party wanted to unite people from all the four provinces through this event.

The chief minister said during the two-day session party leaders discussed political situation in the country with special reference to Balochistan.

He said during discussions some leaders criticised the party on some issues and gave important suggestions, adding that their ideas would be helpful in implementing the agenda of the party.

Abdul Malik paid tribute to Dr Hayee Baloch and termed the veteran leader an asset to the party. “Dr Sahib is our leader and we need his guidance,” he added.

He said the decisions of the party’s central committee would be considered supreme and always be implemented. He asked the party to always obey party decisions.

The chief minister said for meeting the challenges of the future the NP-led coalition government in Balochistan would have to bring improvement in health and education sectors and create employment opportunities.

The basic agenda of the party was to solve people’s problems and to give them their due rights, he added.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2014