Daily Times

QUETTA: The newly-elected chief minister of Balochistan, Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, Thursday said he will continue to carry forward the policies of his predecessor Dr Malik Baloch and will make efforts to improve governance in the province.

Zehri of the PML-N was elected Balochistan chief minister unopposed on Thursday after Dr Baloch resigned from the post on Wednesday.

The chief minister, while addressing the assembly, said grievances of Balochistan’s people would be addressed with the development and progress on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is arriving to inaugurate the CPEC route on December 30.

“Let’s come for peace, we are ready for dialogue,” Zehri said, while referring to political reconciliation in Balochistan. He, however, made it clear that no compromise would be made regarding attacks at security forces and civilians in Balochistan. He said attacks against Hazara community would not be tolerated anymore.

Later in the day, Balochistan Assembly unanimously adopted a confidence resolution in support of the newly elected chief minister.

The resolution was tabled by member provincial assembly Rahim Ziaratwal and supported by all 54 members present in the house.

Meanwhile, Rahila Hameed Durrani was unanimously elected as the first-ever female speaker of the Balochistan Assembly.

Durrani belongs to the ruling PML-N, which leads the provincial government along with Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and the National Party.

According to reports, no candidate submitted his nomination papers against Durrani in the registrar office during the stipulated time of 9am to 10am. However, Mufti Gulab, a candidate of the opposition parties, submitted his nomination papers after 10am.

The registrar initially refused to accept the nomination papers of Mufti Gulab but after a heated argument with the MPAs of the opposition parties, his papers were finally accepted.

Presiding Officer Liaquat Agha declared MPA Rahila Hameed Durrani as the elected speaker, arguing the opposition’s candidate could not submit his nomination papers in the given time.

Durrani had been elected as member of the Balochistan Assembly on a ticket from the PML-N on a special seat for women in the 2013 general elections.

Earlier in May, former speaker Balochistan Assembly Jan Muhammad Jamali had resigned from his post following a row with the PML-N’s leadership after he reportedly voted for his daughter Sana Jamali in the Senate elections, ignoring the party decision.

Durrani’s election comes just two days after Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly elected Dr Mehar Taj Roghani as its first-ever woman deputy speaker. Roghani, who was the nominee of the treasury benches and belonged to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is a lawmaker from Mardan.

The change in the province’s top slot comes as part of the Murree Accord between the PML-N and Baloch nationalist parties – PkMAP and the National Party (NP) – that are part of the PML-N led coalition government in the province.

Under the pact, agreed to in 2013, PML-N gave up its claim to head the ruling coalition in the province and nominated Dr Abdul Malik, the president of National Party, for the post of chief minister.

Malik was to remain the chief executive for half a term, which ended earlier this month.