QUETTA: Syed Zahoor Ahmed Agha on Friday took the oath as the 22nd governor of Balochistan.

Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail administered the oath to the new governor at a simple but impressive ceremony at Governor House.

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri, Senators Manzoor Ahmed Kakar and Sana Jamali, provincial ministers, advisers, MNAs, Balochistan Assembly’s former speaker Raheela Hameed Khan Durrani, MPAs, senior government officials, including Chief Secretary Mathar Niaz Rana, IG Police Mohammad Tahir Rai, the IG of Frontier Corps and a large number of leaders and workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

The parliamentary leader of the PTI in Balochistan Assembly, Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind, who has resigned from the cabinet as education minister, was not present on the occasion. Mr Rind’s resignation has not been accepted by the government so far.

Mr Agha was appointed the governor of Balochistan by President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday after accepting the resignation of former governor retired Justice Amanullah Khan Yasinzai, who held the position for two years and eight months.

Mr Agha was born on Oct 4, 1971 in Pishin district. He joined the PTI in 2011 and has since then worked in different positions in the party.

Political observers say that Qasim Suri, who belongs to Quetta, played an important role in convincing Prime Minister Imran Khan for appointing Mr Agha as the Balochistan governor.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2021