New Balochistan cabinet sworn in

Governor Balochistan Syed Zahoor Agha administered oath to 14 new Cabinet ministers who officially joined Balochistan government on Sunday, following political turmoil over the past few weeks.

This provincial cabinet shall take over from the earlier one under former chief minister Balochistan Jam Kamal. The oath-taking ceremony was attended by the freshly appointed Chief Minister Balochistan Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri, members of Parliament, tribal leaders and members of the bureaucracy.

The new cabinet includes Balochistan Awami Party’s (BAP) Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, Sardar Mohammad Saleh Bhootani and Sardar Abdul Rehman Kethran, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Mir Naseebullah Marri and Mubeen Khilji, Balochistan National Party-Awami’s Mir Asadullah Baloch and Syed Ehsan Shah, Abdul Khaliq Hazara from the Hazara Democratic Party and Awami National Party’s (ANP) Engineer Zamaruk Khan.

Also sworn into the Cabinet were Nawabzada Mir Tariq Khan Magsi, Haji Noor Mohammad Dumar, Haji Akbar Askani, Haji Mohammad Khan Lehri and Mir Sikandar Ali Umrani.

Five advisers namely BAP's Abdul Rasheed Baloch, Mir Ziaullah Langov and Sardar Masood Ali Luni, PTI’s Mir Niamatullah Zehri and Jamhoori Wattan Party’s Mir Gohram Khan Bugti were also sworn in at the ceremony, who will be part of the new cabinet.

Read Ehsaas Centres to widen Balochistan coverage

The new cabinet will also include four parliamentary secretaries namely Laila Tareen, Mahjabeen Sheeran, Bashari Rind and Muhammad Khan Toor Utmankhail. It should be noted that BAP leader Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo was elected as the chief minister of Balochistan unopposed on October 29.

Former chief minister Jam Kamal had landed in hot waters after 14 lawmakers in the provincial assembly, mostly from his own party and other coalition partners, signed a no-confidence motion against him, which was submitted to the speaker’s office on October 11, 2021.

Earlier to this, 16 members of the opposition had filed a no-trust motion against the former chief minister following political disturbances in the province. Parliamentary secretary Mahjabeen Sheeran of BAP lashed at her own party for the exclusion of women parliamentarians from new cabinet.

The new 14-member cabinet consists entirely of men. Mahjabeen Sheeran expressed her displeasure on a social media platform saying, "Congratulations to the male-dominated Cabinet, 14 ministers, 5 advisers, not even a single woman," she said.

Earlier, BAP’s Bushra Rind had also stepped down from the position of Women’s Wing Organiser for the party following exclusion from the provincial cabinet.