Quetta: President of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) Balochistan, Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, was elected unopposed as the chief Minister of Balochistan on Thursday, replacing National Party (NP) leader Dr Abdul Malik Baloch at the helm of the provincial government after two and a half years.
No other candidate submitted nomination papers for the election of the Leader of the House.
A formal announcement of Zehri’s election is expected at 4:00PM, when the PML-N leader will take oath as provincial chief minister.
Dr Abdul Malik Baloch tendered his resignation Balochistan chief minister on Wednesday and Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai has already accepted it.
Earlier this month, Zehri was nominated as chief minister by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his capacity as the President of the PML-N.
Under the Murree Accord, the coalition arrangement between the PML-N, NP, and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) after the May 2013 polls, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch was elected as the chief minister for a period of two-and-a-half years.
The PML-N bagged 17 seats, PkMAP 14 and National Party 10 seats in the 65-member Balochistan Assembly in the 2013 general elections, but the smallest party of the group was awarded the exalted office for the first half of the five-year tenure in the light of the formula decided by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who said he wished to accommodate the nationalists in the larger interest of the country.
