Balochistan's 11-member interim cabinet takes oath

Caretaker CM Marri says ministers will be allotted portfolios in coming days

QUETTA: Without further ado, caretaker Balochistan Chief Minister Alauddin Marri on Tuesday unveiled his provincial cabinet consisting of 11 members.

The members include Agha Umar Bangulzai, Naveed Kalmati, Hafiz Khalil Ahmed, Inayatullah Kasi Advocate, Khurram Shahzad, Farzana Baloch, Abdul Salam Khan, Manzoor Hussain, Nasrullah Khilji, Imam Buksh Baloch and Faiz Kakar.

The members, including one female, were sworn in as ministers. Balochistan Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai administered the oath to them during a ceremony held at the Governor House.

Marri, chief secretary and other government officials were present during the cabinet’s oath-taking ceremony.

Making good on his promise, Marri has chosen cabinet members, who are young and have major expertise in their respective fields.

Meeting the newly appointed cabinet members, Marri congratulated them and urged them to prepare themselves for a major responsibility of holding peaceful elections in Balochistan.

“We are responsible for the functional government machinery for a period of two months as we have to create a conducive environment for the elections,” Marri told his cabinet members.

He said that the interim government and its members were going to visit all divisional headquarters to review the law and order situation over there in the wake of elections.

The caretaker chief minister of Balochistan announced that the ministries would be distributed among the interim ministers in the coming days.

After the previous government and opposition failed to reach consensus for the caretaker slot, the matter was passed on to the parliamentary committee of Balochistan. However, the government-nominated members boycotted the committee meeting with former chief minister Abdul Qudus Bizenjo describing the opposition leader as controversial.

The matter was then forwarded to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). In a news conference in Islamabad, ECP Additional Secretary Akhtar Nazir announced Alauddin Marri as the caretaker chief minister of Balochistan on June 7.