PML-Q, dissident PML-N MPAs nominate Quddus Bizenjo as CM candidate
January 11, 2018
QUETTA: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and disgruntled members of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Thursday nominated Abdul Quddus Bizenjo as their candidate for new chief minister of Balochistan.
Holding a joint press conference here, PML-N MPA Jan Mohammad Jamali announced that Bizenjo would be their candidate for the leader of the House.
Bizenjo's nomination papers would be submitted on Friday, Jamali added.
Those backing Bizenjo include five members of the Balochistan Assembly from PML-Q and 15 from the PML-N.
Following the announcement, Bizenjo thanked all the lawmakers who named him as their candidate for the new chief minister.
"We would continue to serve the people of Balochistan," he said, adding that they still have respect for former chief minister Sanaullah Zehri.
He further said that they would approach all other parties, including Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), for favouring him in voting for the new CM.
The Balochistan governor has already summoned an assembly session on January 13 to elect the new chief minister.
On Wednesday, opposition parties in the Balochistan Assembly announced they would not field a candidate for the leader of the House.
Maulana Abdul Wasay, leader of the opposition in the provincial assembly, said the opposition would not join the new provincial government.
The announcement came a day after Zehri's resignation as the chief minister in the face of a no-confidence motion by opposition parties, which also had backing from some members of his own party.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and PML-N head Nawaz Sharif, after Zehri's resignation, had decided the opposition would be offered to field their candidate for the vacated position.
Zehri had been advised by PM Abbasi to step down as the chief minister in order to defuse the political crisis that had been brewing in the province.
The prime minister had also taken notice of the role of provincial lawmakers for letting the situation come to its present stage.
