While the current office of the Governor Balochistan is paralyzed–the present Governor Justice ® Amnanullah Yasinzai has not resigned on technical ground, despite losing the trust of Prime Minister Imran Khan— cut throat lobbying is still afoot to secure the coveted slot of the province. So far several names are rumored to be hot favorites but the decision has not yet been made and the PTI also seems to have failed to reach a consensus upon a candidate.
Transitionally, the Governor has to be from ethnic Pashtun community of Balochistan whereas the Chief Minister always belongs to the Baloch community. Unfortunately, in Balochistan the post of the governor is more or less ceremonial in nature, as stipulated by the constitution. It is similar in other province, as no government has ever thought of overhauling the role of the governor.
Balochistan being a strategically sensitive province and a witness to a rising clout geo-politically, the right candidate needs have a different qualification to be selected. I order to play a robust role–a traditional nominee is not cut out for this job–in the face of the mounting challenges summed up here as follow:
Balochistan is a frontline province and confluence of many variables, both tangible and intangible, which include CPEC, proxy wars, PTM influence in Pashtun region, and Baloch separatists still putting up a last fight. We need a candidate for the governor’s office, who has a deeper understanding of the big picture, can sell national narrative regionally and internationally on the issues affecting Balochistan–unique to the province,
He also can put out the real story of rising Balochistan through connectivity, and becoming a maritime route, for the world, instead of just clarifications and condemnations on bomb blasts–as reported by International media.
Since Balochistan is faced with an indirect war and a grey zone theater– witnessing below the surface war of attrition called hybrid warfare by India–the Army has a mammoth challenge of thin margins of narrative management. The Governor should be selling the state narrative particularly, a) the 3D development vision of the Army Chief General Qamar Bajwa for Balochistan—Deterrence, Development and Dialogue–to the people of Balochistan and Pakistan, and b) the non-kinetic response/vision of the Chief called “Kushal Balochistan ” has to be diffused through good communication strategy.
Another very important skill set of a potential candidate should be having exposure in national/ international media and in possession of confidence and desirable background to face audiences of diverse nature including think tanks, policy makers and policy implementers so that he can put across his viewpoint convincingly and credibly.
Still other most important expertise would be having a nuanced understanding of how the diplomatic corps operates in Pakistan and can be bridged with Balochistan in order to foster better appraisal of the province’s issues, challenges and opportunities and also potentially encourage and spur them for investment in Balochistan.
At the moment various embassies have at least up to $800 million worth projects solely for underdeveloped regions like Balochistan. They include USID, DFID, GIZ, China and GCC countries. The future governor should be bridging the gaps between the government and the diplomatic corps to help unlock international donors’ money by sophisticated networking.
Since Balochistan borders Afghanistan, Iran, Gulf countries through sea, and serves as linchpin of the BRI project–the Grand Chinese Belt and Road Initiative–the candidate should have knowledge of how to deal with the sensitivities, economic, political and cultural affinities of these countries linked with the province.
The governor Balochistan office is in dire need of bringing new leadership to deal with these important issues. Five important attributes in a person would be–conceptual lens, strategic thinking, management ability, communication skills and patience to listen–the candidate who has these features would be an ideal pick for the coveted post. Similarly, an energy less soul who has lost the momentum of life, stamina and is bereft of the right demeanor can be least inspiring.
In a nutshell, an ordinary local politician with mere constituency skills and a local bureaucrat or a judge cannot rise up to the challenge. Let us raise the bar, please!