ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan is likely to ask Balochistan Governor retired Justice Amanullah Khan Yasinzai to step down as he wants to appoint a new governor in view of the current situation and transformed political challenges.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told Dawn that the prime minister wanted to replace the governor due to a fast-changing political situation in the country.

A source in the PM Office said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Syed Zahoor Agha was one of the top candidates for the slot.

Sources said that the prime minister informed Governor Yasinzai that he wanted to appoint a new governor in Balochistan in view of the current political situation and requested him to tender his resignation.

They said that the prime minister maintained that the resignation demand not in any way reflected adversely on the governor’s competence or performance.

The development comes two days after the prime minister Khan paid a daylong visit to Quetta, where he said his government was keen to bring about a revolution in Balochistan through projects of infrastructure and human development.

Mr Yasinzai was appointed governor of Balochistan in October 2018 by President Dr Arif Alvi on the recommendation of Prime Minister Khan.

He served as the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court from 2005 to 2009 and resigned along with four other BHC judges apparently to avoid facing references in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

He had taken oath on former military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf’s Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) after he declared emergency on Nov 3, 2007.

Born in 1954 in Quetta, he completed his masters from the Forman Christian College, Lahore, and started law practice in 1981. He was appointed as a judge of the BHC in 1997.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2021