BAP’s Jam Kamal Khan elected Balochistan CM

• Jam Kamal receives 39 votes, while his opponent got 20 votes

• He is third person  from his family to be elected to Balochistan’s top office

QUETTA: Members of the Balochistan Assembly (BA) on Saturday elected Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) President Jam Kamal Khan as the Balochistan chief minister (CM).

The BAP president was up against Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s (MMA) leader Yunas Aziz Zehri and beat him by garnering 39 votes, while his opponent received a total of 20 votes.

The Balochistan Assembly session was chaired by recently-elected Speaker Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo.

Khan will reportedly take the oath of his office at the Balochistan Governor House on Sunday. He is the third person from his family to be elected to Balochistan’s top office.

His grandfather, Jam Mir Ghulam Qadir Khan, became Balochistan CM twice, first in 1972 and then in 1985. Khan’s father, Jam Mir Mohammad Yousuf, served as the province’s top officer from 2002 to 2007.

Earlier on August 16, Bizenjo had won the post of Balochistan Assembly speaker after securing 39 votes. The BAP and its allies had nominated Bizenjo for the post of assembly speaker.

Following Bizenjo’s election as the speaker, the BA voted to elect the deputy speaker, which was won by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) candidate Sardar Babar Musa Khel.

The opposition that consists of the MMA and Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), had nominated Mohammad Nawaz Khan for the post of speaker, while Ahmed Nawaz was nominated for the post of deputy speaker.