Quetta (TIP): Balochistan Awami Party leader, Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, on October 29 was elected Chief Minister of the restive region of Balochistan, five days after his predecessor Jam Kamal Khan Alyani stepped down from the post.

Alyani submitted his resignation to the Governor of Balochistan Syed Zahoor Ahmad Agha on Sunday, after majority members of the provincial assembly had moved a no-confidence motion against him earlier this month on the issue of allotment and distribution of development funds. Bizenjo, who hails from an influential political and tribal family of the province, secured 39 out of the 64 eligible votes. This is the second stint for Bizenjo as Chief Minister, having previously served in this position from January to July 2018. Governor Agha is scheduled to administer Bizenjo’s oath at a swearing-in ceremony at Governor House, in Quetta later in the evening, a spokesperson said.

The ceremony will be attended by leaders of other political parties as well as civil and military officials.

Bizenjo takes over as CM at a time when the province is seeing a rise in terror attacks by separatists, who are specifically targeting security officials as well as Chinese nationals working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects.

Earlier this week, Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department had killed 15 militants belonging to the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army, Baloch Liberation Front and United Baloch Army in the Mastung and Harnai regions during an operation in which they also seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition.

Despite being rich in natural resources, Balochistan remains one of the more backward provinces in Pakistan, after being hit by a wave of terror attacks by separatist groups for more than a decade.

The Pakistan government believes that foreign agencies are working in tandem with these banned outfits to spread terror, create unrest and derail the slew of CPEC projects earmarked for the region. PTI