QUETTA: National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri, who has been appointed president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) Balochistan’s chapter by Prime Minister Imran Khan, said on Sunday he would organise the party at the grassroots level and make it a true representative of the people of the province.

“The prime minister has assigned me an important responsibility and I will fulfil it honestly and through hard work, taking the people along with me,” Mr Suri said while talking to the media on his arrival at Quetta airport from Islamabad.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Imran Khan nominated new office-bearers of the PTI at the central and provincial levels a day after dissolving the party’s organisational structure across the country.

The dissolution came after the party’s dismal performance in the local bodies’ elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the party has been ruling for more than eight years.

Mr Suri denied reports of any differences within the party over the nomination of new office-bearers and said news circulating in this regard were baseless and political propaganda.

On his nomination, Mr Suri said it was not the first time the prime minister had put him in charge of the PTI’s Balochistan chapter, as he had served in the role twice.

“I am from Balochistan and will work with the people of the province and reorganise the party with the consultation of the people and party leadership,” he said, adding that the PTI was one and will remain united under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

On a question about reports that PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was coming back to Pakistan, Mr Suri said: “We also want Nawaz Sharif to come back and complete his remaining jail term awarded by the courts.”

On development projects in Balochistan, he said most of the National Highway Authority’s projects in the country were going on in Balochistan. “A lot of development work is being done in Balochistan. We will work for developing the areas left behind and for which the prime minister has announced a huge package,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2021