QUETTA: Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo will take the oath as chief minister of Balochistan on Friday (today) at the Governor House as he has been virtually elected unopposed since no other candidate filed nomination papers for the top slot on Thursday.

Five nomination papers were filed on behalf of Mr Bizenjo by the members of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) with the secretary of the Balochistan Assembly, Tahir Shah Kakar.

No other candidate filed the nomination papers till 5pm.

Deputy Speaker of the assembly Sardar Babar Khan Musakhail said that five nomination papers were filed for the election of new leader of the house, which were found to be correct after scrutiny. “No other candidate has filed nomination papers to contest the election for the post of the leader of house,” he said.

Sardar Babar said that a session of the Balochistan Assembly would be held on Friday at 10am and subsequently, the oath-taking ceremony for the new chief minister would take place at the Governor House in the afternoon.

The nomination papers were proposed and seconded by Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran, Sardar Mohammad Saleh Bhootani, Laila Tareen, Bushra Rind, Noor Mohammad Dummar, Mitha Khan Kakar, Mir Zahoor Buledi, Mir Sikandar Umrani, Mohammad Khan Lehri and Mir Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali.

Talking to media after submission of his nomination papers, Mr Bizenjo said that the new coalition government would sincerely work for resolving the problems of people and better development of Balochistan.

“I’m thankful to all the allies, Jam Kamal Khan Alyani and opposition parties for supporting me and extending support to me for making me the joint candidate for the slot of the leader of the house,” Mr Bizenjo said.

He said, “My job is not to speak. My responsibility is to deliver. After taking oath, I will unveil my strategy and policies which would be visible on the ground.”

Mr Bizenjo said, “I apologise to those we had to leave due to some compulsions. Now all matters have been settled amicably.”

He said that Jam Kamal had played an important role in saving the BAP from division. He said that he would visit Jam Kamal and take benefit from his experience.

Meanwhile, outgoing chief minister Jam Kamal said in a tweet, “We all as Balochistan Awami Party stand together and firm on all consensus decisions -- our differences were before my resignation, but not after that. Party has no groupings and we all stand one and my good wishes for Qudoos Bizenjo and Mir Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali”.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2021