QUETTA: The federal government has decided to appoint former bureaucrat Muhammad Khan Achakzai as the new Governor of Balochistan.

Sources in Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) told Dawn.com that Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has sent the summary regarding the appointment of Achakzai as the Balochistan governor to President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday.

Muhammad Khan Achakzai is the son of Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai, a renowned freedom fighter of the sub-continent and the elder brother of PkMAP’s Central Chairman, Mehmood Khan Achakzai.

He belongs to a strong Pashtun nationalist family who fought against the English colonial rulers and then struggled to acquire usurpation rights for the Pashtuns within the framework of Pakistan. His father, Khan, spent 33 years in jail during his struggle against the English colonial rulers and later the military dictators in independent Pakistan.

He is a retired bureaucrat from the Planning Commission of Pakistan, where he served as a chief economist in Grade-22.

Governor Balochistan Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi has already sent his resignation to President Zardari. However, the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) chief, Nawaz Sharif has already decided to give the post to ethnic Pashtuns in Balochistan.

Achakzai's notification regarding his governorship is likely to be issued within next couple of days.