QUETTA, March 23: Pakistan People’s Party nominee for the post of Balochistan Chief Minister, Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani, is likely to be elected unopposed with all parliamentary groups having announced their support for him.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Q, which had emerged as the majority party after the Feb 18 elections, has also announced its unconditional backing for Mr Raisani who now enjoys the support of 61 of the 63 elected MPAs.

One group of 12 PML-Q legislators had announced support for Mr Raisani earlier and another group of five MPAs headed by Sheikh Jaffar Mandokhel followed suit on Saturday.

The group which includes Senator Saeed Ahmed Hashmi, Mir Asim Kurd and Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetiran told newsmen at a press conference that the decision to support the PPP candidate had been taken after a series of meetings with the central and provincial leadership of the PPP.

“Our support is unconditional and we have not demanded anything in return,” they claimed.

Mr Raisani, who was present at the press conference, thanked PML-Q members for their support and said that it would be for the first time in the province that all parliamentary groups would be supporting the new government.