Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) chief organiser Mir Jan Mohammad Jamali was elected unopposed as the Balochistan Assembly speaker on Saturday as no nomination papers were filed for any other candidate, the provincial assembly's secretary said.

The post had fallen vacant earlier this week after the previous speaker Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo stepped down as he was being considered for the office of the province's chief executive. Bizenjo was sworn in as the Balochistan chief minister on Friday.

Balochistan Assembly secretary Tahir Shah said Governor Syed Zahoor Ahmed Agha had set the time for nominating candidates for the office of the speaker from 8:30am to 12pm. During that time five nomination papers were submitted for Jamali while no other candidate was nominated.

Shah said Jamali was elected as the speaker unopposed as per the assembly rules and there will be no voting in the assembly session at 3pm. Instead, the acting speaker will announce the elected speaker's name, he shared.

Who is Mohammad Jamali?

Jamali hails from a political family in Balochistan. He was born on May 23, 1955, in the Usta Mohammad area of ​​the Jaffarabad district. His father Noor Mohammad Jamali was a tribal leader as well as a politician.

After completing his primary education in the area, he obtained a bachelor's degree from Balochistan University and started his politics with the local body elections in 1983. In 1988, he became a member of the provincial assembly on the ticket of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (Islamic Democratic Alliance).

In 1990, he yet again became a member of the Balochistan Assembly as an independent candidate and became a provincial minister in 1993.

Jamali won the 1997 elections on a PML-N ticket. He also served as the chief minister of Balochistan from June 15, 1998, to October 12, 1999.

He participated in the 2013 elections on PML-N's ticket and was successful. From June 2013 to 2015, he was the speaker of the Balochistan Assembly. He also served twice as deputy chairman of the Senate.

Jamali joined the BAP in 2018.