QUETTA: Mir Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali, who was elected speaker of the Balochistan Assembly unopposed, took the oath of his office during a session of the legislature on Friday.

Mir Jamali could not take oath after being elected last month due to his illness and was admitted to a hospital in Karachi.

Deputy Speaker Sardar Babar Khan Musakhail, who presided over the session, administered the oath to Mr Jamali as speaker.

Mir Jan Jamali has previously served as the chief minister, Balochistan Assembly speaker and the deputy chairman of the Senate twice.

Says treasury, opposition members should jointly take up province’s issues with Islamabad

Presiding over the session, Mr Jamali said the assembly was an important institution in democracy and “we all should be on one page for maintaining its dignity and honour”. He said efforts would be made for making the house committees more functional where ministers would be called for replying to questions on various issues.

The speaker emphasised that the treasury and opposition members should jointly go to Islamabad for resolution of issues being faced by the people of Balochistan.

Giving his ruling on the issue of Reko Diq, which was discussed in the last session where the members expressed concern over the signing of an agreement by the federal government without taking the Balochistan government and the assembly into confidence, the speaker said a parliamentary committee should be formed to discuss the matter and take it up with the Centre.

Opposition leader Malik Sikander Khan and PTI parliamentary leader Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind congratulated Mir Jan Jamali on his election as speaker.

Malik Sikander said Mr Jamali was a senior politician who had served the province in different positions. He said lawmakers would get an opportunity to learn a lot from the experience of Mr Jamali.

Yar Mohammad Rind said the issues relating to Reko Diq and Gwadar were of a serious nature and needed special attention. He said the people sitting in Islamabad could not resolve these issues and suggested that a ‘truth commission’ be formed under a Supreme Court judge and the chief minister should himself approach the apex court for this purpose.

Mir Asad Baloch of the Balochistan National Party-Awami said the province’s case should be comprehensively presented at the federal level and “we have to move forward instead of making speeches”. “The Federation should take up Balochistan’s issues in accordamce with the Constitution,” he added.

Nasarullah Zerey and Malik Naseer Ahmed Shahwani expressed the hope that as a custodian of the house Mir Jan Jamali would protect the lawmakers’ rights.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2021