Kamal, Zehri in one-to-one contest in Balochistan Assembly

Balochistan Assembly meets today to elect provincial chief

QUETTA: The newly-elected members of the provincial assembly (MPAs) are all set to elect the next chief minister of Balochistan on Saturday (today) from two candidates - Jam Kamal Khan and Younus Aziz Zehri.

Unanimous candidate of six coalition political parties in the provincial assembly and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) President Jam Kamal Khan has been termed as a strong candidate for the chief minister’s slot with the support of more than 40 MPAs.

On Friday, Kamal filed his nomination papers in Balochistan Assembly Secretary Shamsuddin’s office with other MPAs and party leaders of BAP.



“Fortunately, things have been moving smoothly in Balochistan as we completed the first phase of the assembly after electing speaker and deputy speaker of the house following democratic values,” said Kamal while talking to the media.

No matter who becomes the chief minister of Balochistan after Saturday’s secret voting, “I believe the government and opposition are a part of the assembly and both should give respect to each other in order to run their provincial affairs more efficiently”, Kamal added.

To a query regarding extension of one day in filing nomination papers for the provincial chief’s slot, Kamal said, “Opposition members had some concerns regarding rule of business of the assembly and on their demand our coalition parties willingly accepted one day extension.”
After Kamal, Balochistan National Party-Mengal and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s joint candidate for the CM’s post Younus Aziz Zehri submitted his nomination form.

BNP-M MPAs Akhtar Hussain Langove, Ahmed Nawaz Baloch, Naseer Shahwani and MMA leaders accompanied Zehri.

“The BNP-M and the MMA have unanimously nominated Zehri as the opposition candidate for the next chief minister Balochistan. We have support of one PkMAP MPA,” said BNP-M leader Naseer Shahwani.
The newly-elected speaker of the Balochistan Assembly Abdul Quddus Bizenjo called the voting session at 11am where elected MPAs will use secret ballot to elect the next chief minister of Balochistan.

Kamal has the support of Awami National Party, Hazara Democratic Party, Jamhoori Watan Party, BNP-Awami and Pakistan Tehreeke-e-Insaf, which makes him a stalwart candidate for the CM’s post.