QUETTA, Aug 16: Opposition's prolonged protest in the Balochistan Assembly has ended after the formation of a committee to discuss the public sector development programme and other contentious issues.

It would hold its first meeting on Aug 26. Opposition leaders Kachkol Ali Baloch and Sardar Azam Musakhel on a point of order raised the PSDP issue and accused the government of victimizing the people of Balochistan and stressed the need for resolving it and other matters on the basis of justice and merit.

Speaker Jamal Shah Kakar, who chaired the assembly proceeding on Monday, adjourned the session for some time to enable the treasury and the opposition members to hold consultations for nominating the committee members.

Later, the house approved the 17-member committee with an equal number of members from the treasury and the opposition benches. The committee, which would be headed by the speaker, would finish its deliberations by Sept 20.

Members from the treasury benches included Ehsan Shah, Mir Asghar Rind, Hafiz Hamadullah, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed Shurudy, Mir Abdur Rehman Jamali, Mir Shoiab Nausherwani, Maulvi Ataullah and Jaffar Khan Mandokhel.

Kachkol Baloch, Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, Nawab Aslam Raisani, Haji Juma Bugti, Saleem Khoso, Sardar Azam Musakhel and Akbar Mengal would represent the opposition benches.

Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf said that the emergence of an understanding between both the sides reflected that the members of the assembly were determined to resolve all issues in a democratic manner. The chief minister condemned the occurence of bomb blasts and incidents of firing of rockets in which innocent persons had been killed.