South Asian Gazette Worldwide News Work
QUETTA: Lawmakers in the Balochistan Assembly elected Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) President Jam Kamal as the province’s chief minister on Saturday.
Kamal, a coalition candidate of six parties, secured 39 votes against opposition nominee Younus Aziz Zehri who bagged 20 votes.
Kamal Khan had the support of more than 40 lawmakers in the provincial legislature.
On Friday, Kamal filed his nomination papers in Balochistan Assembly Secretary Shamsuddin’s office with other MPAs and party leaders of BAP.
Zehri was nominated by Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) and the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) as the opposition candidate. The newly-elected speaker of the Balochistan Assembly Abdul Quddus Bizenjo called the voting session at 11am.
Earlier this month, it seemed Kamal’s candidacy was causing rifts within BAP. Former Balochistan chief minister, Mir Quddus Bizenjo opposed Kamal’s involvement with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf regarding government formation.
“We launched BAP with an intention to make the decisions of Balochistan in Balochistan, thus consensus over the next government should be held here rather than in Islamabad,” Bizenjo shared his remarks after PTI announced support for Jam Kamal in Bani Gala.
