File photo, courtesy PID
Sarfraz Bugti, in his inaugural speech as Chief Minister of Balochistan, on Saturday vowed to devise a “roadmap” to tackle what he identified as the three “primary” challenges facing the province.
A day earlier, Sarfraz Bugti—who resigned as interim interior minister to contest the general elections on a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) ticket—was elected unopposed after no other candidate filed nomination papers against him before the deadline to do so expired.
Bugti’s nomination papers were subsequently accepted after scrutiny, with an announcement that he was elected chief minister unopposed. The official announcement to this effect was made in the Balochistan Assembly today (Saturday).
Addressing the Balochistan Assembly after the announcement, Bugti said the major challenges facing the province were governance, climate change and terrorism, stressing all stakeholders agreed on the threat these posed. He said governance could be tackled by acknowledging and addressing the issue in concert with the province’s bureaucracy. He also vowed to address “ghost schools” to ensure quality education for the “province’s poor children who freeze in the cold and sweat in the heat.”
According to the PPP leader, it was regrettable that the province suffered the impact of climate change despite playing a “negligible” role in creating it. Referring to the flooding in Gwadar and Kharan after torrential rains this week, he vowed to visit the region personally tomorrow (Sunday) and ensure it was de-watered for the benefit of the public.
On terrorism, Bugti said he would avail dialogue to tackle it, but warned that there would be zero tolerance for any challenges to the “writ of the state.”
The PPP, the PMLN and the Balochistan Awami Party, allies in the federal government, supported the new Balochistan chief minister. However, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl), which also won a significant number of seats in the province, opted against supporting him and has already announced it would sit in the opposition.
Following the submission of his nomination papers, Bugti had thanked the PPP leadership and called the nomination “an honor,” adding he would take all political parties onboard to resolve the province’s issues and achieve development and prosperity. “Consensus would be evolved with opposition to take Balochistan forward and my door would always be open for everyone,” he had added.