QUETTA: Mir Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti of the PPP was elected leader of the house over a month ago, but the cabinet for Balochistan has not yet been formed, while all other provinces have installed their new administrations.
After taking office on March 2 as chief minister, Mr. Bugti had made insinuations that the cabinet will be formed following the April 4 Senate elections and minister inauguration.
All eleven of Balochistan’s senators were elected without a single opponent after the Senate election process was concluded.
It was anticipated that coalition partners would select the cabinet by consensus, much as they supported Senate candidates.
To finalize the names of the ministers and advisors, CM Bugti met multiple times with leaders of other coalition parties. The chief minister also urged Asif Ali Zardari, the leader of the PPP, to give his blessing to the party’s nominees for ministries.
According to insiders, these discussions led to nearly finalization among coalition members, and the government was set to take oath on April 4. However, Mr. Bugti was forced to abruptly depart due to his elder brother’s sickness.
The chief minister’s trip caused a delay in the announcement, but Shahid Rind, the newly designated spokesman for the Balochistan administration, said on Thursday that issues pertaining to cabinet formation have been resolved between the coalition parties.
Mr. Rind further asserted that a new party may join the coalition, which already consists of the PPP, PML-N, Balochistan Awami Party, and Awami National Party. The process will be finished upon the CM’s return, he stated.
According to sources, PPP and PML-N will hold the majority of the shares under the power-sharing system, with other parties receiving a smaller stake in the cabinet.
A top PPP leader said Dawn, “Now, the parties will select MPAs for the positions of ministers and advisors.”
But when retired captain Abdul Khaliq Achakzai was removed from his position after ECP canceled his win notification from PB-51 Chaman, the PML-N suffered a blow.
The ECP has ordered re-elections in 12 polling places after receiving applications from his three opponents, Muhammad Asghar Achakzai of the ANP, Abaseen Achakzai of PkMAP, and Muhammad Nawaz of the JUI-F.
The ECP saw an odd voting pattern, hence the results from 12 polling places were canceled.
