Race for Balochistan interim CM continues
Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo and other members of the government’s parliamentary committee on Thursday proposed the names of PPP leader Ali Hassan Zehri and Naseer Bizenjo as its nominees for the position of the province’s caretaker chief executive.
The parliamentary committee of the opposition has already proposed Ali Mardan Domki and Mir Usman Badini as their candidates for the slot.
Opposition leader in the provincial legislature Malik Sikandar held discussions with CM Bizenjo. However, a definitive decision on the appointment could not be reached.
Later, CM Bizenjo refused to endorse the name of Domki and unexpectedly disappeared from the Balochistan House in Islamabad.
Subsequently, the parliamentary committee assumed the mantle of nominating the caretaker CM, prompting opposition leader Sikandar to propose a three-member committee comprising Abdul Wahid Siddiqui, Haji Nawaz Kakar, and Younas Aziz Zehri.
From the government’s side, CM Bizenjo, along with Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran and Zamarak Achakzai, are tasked with nominating the caretaker CM.
The parliamentary committee is yet to meet and discuss the proposed names for the slot of Balochistan’s acting chief minister. The committee has only a day’s time left to make a decision about the interim Balochistan CM.
“The committee is not in a position to reach a consensus on the nomination of the caretaker chief minister in Balochistan,” one of the members of the government's parliamentary body said.
He requested anonymity since he was not authorised to speak to the media ion the subject.
The member predicted that the matter was likely to be handed over to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to choose the caretaker chief minister of the province.
Sources in both the committees said Domki was likely to be endorsed by the ECP.
Domki was earlier proposed by the government's committee.
Now, after opposition from the Balochistan chief minister, Domki has been recommended by the opposition's parliamentary committee.
Earlier, the JUI-F parliamentary committee submitted two names for consideration as the interim CM: Mir Usman Badini and Ali Mardan Domki. This generated a schism among opposition members within the Balochistan Assembly.
Malik Naseer Shahwani, the parliamentary leader of the BNP-M, wrote a letter to the speaker of the Balochistan Assembly, expressing reservations over the JUI-F's nominations for the caretaker CM.
In a bid to find common ground, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, the chief of the BNP-M, engaged in discussions with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the head of the JUI-F.
Regrettably, no consensus emerged between the two parties over the appointment of a unanimous candidate for the acting chief minister in Balochistan.