QUETTA: Balochistan Assembly Speaker Jan Muhammad Jamali tendered his resignation from his post as the legislature's custodian Friday to avoid a no-confidence motion against him by the government.
Jan Muhammad Jamali dispatched a hand-written resignation to the governor, which has been accepted by Acting Balochistan Governor Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo, sources in the Governor House confirmed.
Bizenjo was sworn in as acting governor after Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai left for London, while speaker Jan Muhammad Jamali— who would have conventionally become acting governor— left for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah on May 16.
Read: Qudoos Bizenjo sworn in as acting governor.
The ruling coalition part of the Balochistan government had decided to bring a no-confidence motion against Jamali during a cabinet meeting on Thursday, which was chaired by Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Malik Baloch.
Coalition partners — including Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), National Party and Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) — had agreed to replace speaker Jan Jamali, Balochistan Information Minister Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal told journalists.
Differences had surfaced between Jan Jamali and his party PML-N over distribution of Senate tickets in March this year.
Jamali complained that PML-N legislators were ignored with regards to ticket distribution during the Senate elections, which prompted him to gone against party policy to field his daughter—Sana Jamali— as a candidate on a seat reserved for women.
Jamali's defiance had cost the PML-N a crucial seat from Balochistan during Senate polls this year. His violation of party discipline, despite the leadership's attempts to eliminate internal differences, resulted in PML-N's top leadership deciding to replace him.
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