Rift over body to pick interim Balochistan CM

QUETTA: Though the matter of choosing a candidate for the slot of interim chief minister was referred to a parliamentary committee of the Balochistan Assembly after outgoing chief minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo and opposition leader Malik Sikander Khan had failed to reach a consensus on a name, differences cropped up on Wednesday among the opposition parties over the nomination of committee members.

The outgoing chief minister had on Tuesday night refused to accept the nomination of Mir Ali Mardan Domki for the post of caretaker chief minister. It was proposed by former CM Jam Kamal Khan Alyani and Malik Sikander Khan after meeting interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar.

They also released news to the media that Mr Domki has been nominated for the slot of caretaker chief minister as a consensus candidate.

Mr Bizenjo, who is in Islamabad, did not meet the opposition leader and Mr Alyani who went to Balochistan House to get his signature on the summary regarding nomination of Mr Domki and said he had not approved the latter as a consensus candidate.

Outgoing CM refuses to accept Mardan Domki as caretaker successor; Governor Kakar denies reports about resignation

The matter was then referred to the parliamentary committee to decide a candidate through vote. The opposition leader sent three names to Balochistan Assembly Speaker Mir Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali, including former MPAs Mohammad Nawaz, Abdul Wahid Siddique and Younas Zehri who belong to the JUI-F, while no member was nominated from the opposition Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal).

Both the opposition parties — BNP-Mengal and Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party — expressed serious reservations for ignoring their members by the JUI-F while sending names to the speaker for the parliamentary committee. BNP-Mengal’s parliamentary leader in the dissolved assembly Malik Naseer Ahmed Shahwani and Nasarullah Zerey of PkMAP met the speaker and submitted their application demanding that they also be given representation in the committee as their parties were also part of the opposition in the last assembly.

On the other hand, CM Bizenjo sent three names for representing the government side in the parliamentary committee, including his own name and Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran from BAP and ANP’s Zamarak Khan Piralizai.

A late-evening development created further complications for the speaker to issue a notification about formation of the parliamentary committee when an objection was raised on the name of Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo by some quarters and the opposition. Sources said the speaker informed the opposition that there was no bar on making the chief minister a member of the parliamentary committee.

However, the notification about the formation of the parliamentary committee could not be issued by the speaker till the filing of this report.

“The notification will be issued after receiving a third name from the chief minister which has not so far been received,” an official said.

The opposition leader has submitted two names from the JUI-F for the post of caretaker CM, which include Mir Ali Mardan Domki and Usman Badini, while no names were sent to the speaker from the other side so far.

Akhtar Mengal expressed his astonishment over the nomination of Mir Ali Mardan Domki from JUI-F and said the opposition leader had not consulted BNP-Mengal which remained part of the opposition during the last five years.

The BNP-Mengal had recommended the name of Mir Hammal Kalmati for the slot of interim chief minister from his party which was not included in the names sent to the parliamentary committee and instead of giving his name, Ali Mardan Domki’s name was moved as first priority, while Usman Badini given at number 2.

Governor denies resignation

Balochistan Governor Malik Abdul Wali Kakar has denied reports about his resignation from office.

“There is no truth in news circulating on social media about my resignation. I have not quit the governorship or submitted my resignation,” Governor Kakar told Dawn on Wednesday, adding that he is working as governor and has no plan to quit the office.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2023