PML-N’s Zehri will share Baloch’s term as Balochistan CM, claims report

If a local English newspaper’s report is to be believed, Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch is likely to be replaced by Sardar Sanaullah Zehri halfway through his five-year tenure.
According to a report in the Express Tribune published on Tuesday, the decision to break up the tenure into shorter but equal periods of time was taken last year by the three provincial coalition partners in Balochistan– the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), National Party (NP) and Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP).

The three parties also decided that both the NP and PML-N candidates would divide the five-year tenure among themselves, said the report, claiming that the deal was made in Murree when a deadlock emerged over government formation in the province.

According to the report, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo and Sardar Sanaullah Zehri on behalf of their respective parties. Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz Sharif, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch and Lt Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch oversaw the signing. The newspaper claims that it has a copy of the agreement which was not made public.
“For the first half of the five-year term, the chief minister will be from the National Party which has nominated its president Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, after which PML-N’s provincial president Sardar Sanaullah Zehri will replace him,” reads the document, according to the Tribune report.
According to the deal, Balochistan’s new governor will be PkMAP nominee Muhammad Khan Achakzai, the elder brother of Mehmood Khan Achakzai. Additionally, the three parties had agreed that provincial assembly speaker and a senior minister will be from the PML-N. The makeup of the cabinet – including share of each party – was also decided at Murree.
According to the report, a senior leader of the ruling NP had confirmed the existence of the deal but he wouldn’t say whether or not his party would support a PML-N chief minister after two-and-a-half years.