Home Latest News Abdul Quddus Bizenjo Elected New Balochistan Chief Minister

Abdul Quddus Bizenjo Elected New Balochistan Chief Minister

by Staff Report

File photo of Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo

The BAP leader ran unopposed and secured the votes of 39 of 64 eligible members of the provincial assembly

Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leader Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo on Friday secured the post of Balochistan chief minister in an uncontested election, replacing Jam Kamal Khan who resigned from the position on Oct. 24.

The Balochistan Assembly consists of 65 lawmakers—51 elected on general seats, 11 on seats reserved for women, and three on seats reserved for minorities. Of the 64 members eligible to vote in the chief minister’s election, 39 voted for Bizenjo. The minimum votes he needed to secure to emerge victorious were 33, or half the total strength of the provincial assembly.

Of the 39 votes in Bizenjo’s favor, 38 were cast by members of the BAP and its allied parties, while one was cast by a member of the opposition. Members of three political parties—the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl), the Balochistan National Party (Mengal), and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party—as an independent lawmaker abstained from the vote.

This is the second time Bizenjo has been elected as Balochistan’s chief minister; he had previously served in the role from Jan. 13, 2018-June 7, 2018 following the resignation of Nawab Sanaullah Zehri. Previously, he has also served as a member of the provincial cabinet from 2002 and 2007, and was elected the deputy speaker of the Balochistan Assembly in 2013.

In 2015, he was elected to the speaker of the provincial assembly after the resignation of then-speaker Jan Jamali. Following the 2018 general elections, he was elected the speaker of the Balochistan Assembly. He stepped down from the position on Oct. 25, a day after Jam Kamal tendered his resignation as chief minister.

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