Dr Malik Baloch elected Balochistan CM unopposed

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QUETTA: Dr Abdul Malik Baloch was elected unopposed to the post of Balochistan chief minister on Saturday after no party nominated any candidate against him, reported Express News.

The formal announcement for the Balochistan CM post will be made tomorrow (Sunday) during a provincial assembly session at 11am. Baloch will take oath at the Governor House at 6pm tomorrow.

He was nominated by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (Pk-MAP), National Party (NP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), while other parties also decided to support him.

The deadline for submitting nomination papers for the post ended at 2pm today.

Earlier, a petition, co-signed by 172 organisations and individuals, along with two consortiums with 220-member organisations, had demanded that Baloch be made the next chief minister of Balochistan.

To restore peace in Balochistan, the petitioners said, it is important to hand over the reins of government to a person who is trustworthy.

Dr Malik Baloch elected Balochistan CM unopposed – The Express Tribune

 

[FC-100]

good luck dr sahib

 

[Leader]

Congrts, hope he delivers, he must take things into his hands

 

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Malik swears to put Balochistan right

QUETTA- The process of power transition was completed in the country on Sunday as the Balochistan Assembly formally elected National Party chief Dr Abdul Malik Baloch unopposed as chief minister on Sunday.

Dr Malik was formally elected as CM with all 55 members, present in the 65-member House, voting in his favour by standing in their seats. The same day, the new CM was sworn in by Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi at the Governor’s House.

In his address to the assembly, Dr Malik said the killing and kidnapping of the people was the most serious issue and hoped the Centre would help address it. He announced to abolish secret and discretionary funds and adopt mother tongue on school and college level. He also vowed to end the culture of corruption and improve public service sectors.

The CM said missing persons, decomposed bodies, target killings, kidnapping for ransom, religious extremism and mass emigration of people due to insecurity were major problems of Balochistan. “We will meet PM Nawaz Sharif and seek his cooperation on this,” he said, adding he was sure that both civilian federal authorities and military would play their due role.

Malik said he was ready to meet angry Baloch youth perched on the mountains to bring them into the mainstream. “I will take a grand Jirga to my brothers and beg them to cooperate,” he said, and stressed reconciliation among warring tribes, saying, “We have done much killing of each other and now we have to put a stop to it.”

Regretting over the migration of minorities due to prevailing insecurity, he said, “It was not a tradition of the province but regretfully we have forced Hindus and Christians to the extent that they started migrating; my government will fulfil its responsibility to protect them but if it failed, it will be shameful for all of us.”

Advocating for giving equal status to women, Malik said “we will have to review the things as it is 21st Century”. He said they would fight for a new social contract and for implementation of Balochistan job quota in letter and spirit.

The CM said he could not tolerate corruption and misappropriation of government funds. “Enough is enough; no more corruption!” He said the mining sector would be made mafia-free and he would expose illegal allotment of government lands in Gwadar and Pasni. He lamented that doctors and teachers for not performing their duties and warned government employees of stern action.

He said that non-development expenditure should be curtailed; there would be no VIP culture anymore and that accountability should be without any discrimination. “I pledge that I will not take even a single penny from secret and discretionary funds and I abolish all secret and discretionary funds on permanent basis.”

Malik said the system could not be improved until lawmakers stopped interfering in transfers and postings of the civil servants. “This has badly damaged the structure of the law-enforcement agencies and increased crime rate. We will have to avoid compromising on principles.” Meanwhile, five built-riddled bodies – three in Johan area of Kalat and Irrigation Colony area of Khuzdar – were found on Sunday.

Malik swears to put Balochistan right

 

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Balochistan conundrum: Dr Malik seeks help on ‘Everest’ challenge

QUETTA: Conceding that the challenges faced by Balochistan are “more imposing than Mount Everest”, the new provincial chief minister, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, has made an impassioned plea to politicians and tribal elders to help steer the province away from the brink of ruin.

“My office is a challenge for me and my administration. We have to tackle myriad problems, including enforced disappearances, targeted killings, sectarian violence, kidnapping for ransom and internally displaced Baloch people,” Dr Malik said in a policy speech on the floor of the Balochistan Assembly following his election to the slot of chief minister.

“The problems rise to the heights of Mount Everest,” he said. The chief minister, however, added that he would approach provincial politicians and tribal elders and request them to help the government resolve these problems.

Dr Malik will also seek help from religious scholars and clerics in an effort to restore peace in the province. “We will restore peace in the provincial capital and make it the Quetta of yesteryear when we used to discuss local politics sitting on the city’s sidewalks,” he added.

Today the province is plagued by ethnic, sectarian and militant violence. A separatist insurgency has added to the volatility of the situation since the killing of Jamhoori Watan Party chief Nawab Akbar Bugti in a military operation in August 2006.

The chief minister said his administration would invite separatist groups and politicians to sit across the table to resolve the Balochistan conundrum. “If the federal government and militant organisations help the provincial administration, there will be no difficulty in finding a solution to all festering issues of the province,” he said.

Soon after his nomination by a three-party alliance in Balochistan Assembly, Dr Malik had said that he would rather step down than become a ‘toothless chief minister’. On Sunday, he reiterated that he would exercise the powers transferred to the provinces under the 18th constitutional amendment.

The chief minister announced that he would not use ‘secret funds’ which, according to him, has been abolished today. He promised austerity as part of his administration’s efforts to put an end to the VIP culture in the province.

Speaking about rampant poverty in Balochistan, Dr Malik said that people in all but one district of the province were living below the poverty line. He promised clean drinking water and better health and education facilities for all without any discrimination. He called upon all provincial lawmakers to make a pledge that they would not support any ghost teacher or doctor.

He took serious notice of the alleged sale of state land to ministers and influential people in Pasni and Gwadar at throwaway prices and said that he would take complacent officials to task. He vowed to weed out mafias in land and mineral sectors as part of his administration’s efforts to eliminate corruption in the province.

About the debilitating electricity crisis, the chief minister said that his government would try to establish 50 megawatt power plants in Loralai, Khuzdar and Washuk to overcome the power shortfall.

Earlier, all 55 members present in the house unanimously voted for Dr Malik – and Speaker Mir Jan Mohammad Jamali declared him elected unopposed. Dr Malik was the unanimous candidate of the three-party ruling alliance that comprises Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party and National Party.

Interestingly, the legislators from Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazlur Rehman) also voted for Dr Malik, even though their party is not part of the ruling coalition. The PML-N’s parliamentary leader Nawab Sanaulah Zehri was the first to congratulate the new chief minister.

Later in the day, Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch was formally sworn in at the Governor House in Quetta. Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi administered the oath at a simple ceremony which was attended by senior bureaucrats, politicians and tribal elders.

Balochistan conundrum: Dr Malik seeks help on