- Sardar Jam Khan Kamal, who in March 2018 formed his Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) along with other electables from the PML-N and PML-Q, has got 39 votes
- His opponent from the MMA and BNP-M was polled 20 votes
KARACHI: Sardar Jam Khan Kamal, President of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), was elected as chief minister of the Balochistan province of Pakistan here on Saturday.
The assembly session was presided over by the newly elected speaker at the Balochistan Assembly, Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, who announced the results after polling for the top provincial slot.
Kamal has polled 39 votes whereas Younis Aziz Zehri, joint candidate of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP), obtained 20 votes.
Kamal was a joint candidate of the BAP, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) and the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP).
Former Chief Minister Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, who remained absent from the two previous sessions, attended the assembly on Saturday and took the oath as a member of the provincial assembly.
Kamal will take the oath as chief minister today at Balochistan’s Governor House. Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai will administer the oath.
Last Thursday, Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo of the BAP, was elected speaker and Sardar Babar Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as deputy speaker of the Balochistan Assembly in a vote that proved the majority of BAP and its allies for forming a coalition government.
A total of 59 members in the house of 65 cast their vote.
Bizenjo, a former chief minister who was earlier elected as deputy speaker in June 2013, was contesting for the slot of speaker as a consensus candidate of the BAP and its allies the PTI, the Awami National Party, the HDP, the BNP-Awami and the JWP.
Bizenjo got 39 votes. Muhammad Nawaz Khan, a joint candidate of the MMA and Balochistan National Party- Mengal (BNP-M) was polled 20 votes.
Rahila Hameed Khan Durrani, the outgoing speaker, administered the oath to the newly elected speaker, after which elections were held for the slot of deputy speaker.
Sardar Babar Khan, who has been elected member provincial assembly from PB-1 Musakhel-cum-Sherani on the PTI’s ticket, was elected deputy speaker.
Khan secured 36 of the 58 votes cast, while his opponent, Ahmed Nawaz of the BNP and MMA, received 21 votes. One vote was rejected.
BAP was formed by dissidents of the PML-N and PML-Q in March after they ousted the chief minister of the PML-N, Sanullah Zehri, from power and elected their own Chief Minister, Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo.
The party was then joined by several more electable politicians, increasing its chances of winning a majority of seats for forming a coalition government.
Its former Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, in a previous interview with Arab News, claimed his party would win a majority and form a government in the province.