QUETTA: Khalil George Francis, a former member of the National Assembly of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, has been elected a member of the Balochistan Assembly on a seat reserved for the minority community, says an official notification of the Election Commission of Pakistan issued on Thursday.

The seat fell vacant after election of Danesh Kumar as a member of the Senate on a ticket of the ruling Balochistan Awami Party in the March 3 Senate election on a seat reserved for members of the minority community from Balochistan.

Mr Francis resigned from the PML-N in 2018 and joined the newly-formed Balochistan Awami Party which won 24 Balochistan Assembly seats in the 2018 general election.

The BAP parliamentary board nominated Mr Francis for the vacant seat and the Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday declared him elected as a member of the Balochistan Assembly.

Mr Francis was elected to the National Assembly as a minority member from the PML-N platform in the 2013 general elections.

He started his political career by joining the Pakistan Peoples’ Party.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2021