Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo sworn in as Balochistan Assembly Speaker
Babar Musa Khel elected deputy speaker.
QUETTA (Dunya News) – Joint candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo on Wednesday was sworn in as Balochistan Assembly Speaker.
He secured 39 votes while his rival Nawaz Kakar bagged 20 votes.
He secured 39 votes while joint opposition candidate Nawaz Kakar received 20 in the secret balloting process. A total of 59 votes were cast.
Outgoing speaker Raheela Durrani administered oath to new speaker who then supervised the election of the deputy speaker for the assembly.
Bizenjo then announced Sardar Babar Musa Khel as the new deputy speaker. Khel bagged 36 votes against Ahmed Nawaz who received 21 votes.
One vote was rejected while 58 votes were cast.
About Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo
Born in 1974, Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo completed his initial education in his native town of Shindi located in remote Awaran tehsil, and secured a master’s degree in English from the University of Balochistan in 2000.
Retracing the steps of his father Abdul Majeed Bizenjo, who was thrice elected from Awaran, Quddus Bizenjo commenced his political career from his home town Shindi Jhao Awaran.
Elected as Balochistan Assembly for the first time in 2002 from PB-41 Awaran, Bizenjo was sworn in as provincial minister for livestock and dairy development in Jam Yousuf’s cabinet.
In 2008, Bizenjo was re-elected on PML-Q’s ticket and joined Nawab Aslam Raisani’s cabinet as minister for livestock, successfully completing a five-year tenure.
In June 2013, he was elected as deputy speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan. After Speaker of the Provincial Assembly, Jan Mohammad Jamali resigned from his post in 2015 prior to a vote of no confidence against him, Bizenjo was named as a potential candidate to overtake Jamali as the succeeding Speaker however he could not.
After Rahila Durrani was made the new Speaker by Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri belonging to ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Bizenjo tendered his resignation as the deputy speaker in December 2015.
On January 2, Bizenjo and 14 like-minded members of Balochistan Assembly submitted a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Zehri of the PML-N, triggering a political crisis in the province.
The crisis was averted on January 9 after Zehri tendered his resignation to Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai minutes before the no-confidence motion was to be tabled in the provincial assembly.
On 13 January, Bizenjo was elected as the Chief Minister of Balochistan, securing 41 out of total 65 votes in the assembly including the votes of dissident MPAs of PML-N, a party considered to be the arch rival of PML-Q.
