Syed Matiullah elected as Speaker Balochistan Assembly

QUETTA: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader Syed Matiullah Agha has been elected unanimously as Speaker Balochistan Assembly Monday, Geo News reported.

Balochistan governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi had summoned the session today to elect a new speaker while the ex-speaker, Aslam Bhootani, approached the high court against the procedure adopted on a no-confidence motion against him.

The office of the speaker fell vacant after passage of no-confidence motion against Bhootani.

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam — two major coalition partners of the Balochistan government — were in the race for the speakership of the assembly.

The PML-Q, to which Bhootani belonged, is the largest coalition partner with 19 members in the assembly followed by the Pakistan People’s Party with 15 members.

The party wanted to retain the speakership. The JUI-F wanted to see its deputy speaker, Syed Matiullah Agha, elected for the coveted post.

Meanwhile Dr Fauzia Marri was elected unopposed and has become the first woman deputy speaker of the assembly.