QUETTA: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday named Allauddin Marri as the caretaker chief minister of Balochistan after parliamentary committee failed to evolve consensus on the name.
Additional Secretary ECP Akhtar Nazir announced the name of interim Balochistan CM during a press conference in Islamabad. On Wednesday, a meeting of the committee was held in the provincial capital Quetta which remained inconclusive as the government representatives didn’t turn up.
The committee was formed after Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo and opposition leader Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal failed to pick a consensus name for the post of the interim chief minister.
The former provincial government had suggested the names of Sardar Shoukat Popalzai and Alauddin Marri for the post of caretaker chief minister while the opposition had nominated Mohammad Aslam Bhutani and Ashraf Jahangir Qazi.
The candidates were scrutinised during an ECP meeting, headed by the chief election commissioner.
The parliamentary committee had forwarded the matter to the ECP to decide and announce the final name.
Former chief ministers Dr Abdul Malik Baloch and Nawab Sanaullah Zehri as well as Syed Agha Liaquat reached the Assembly Secretariat for talks, but the other side did not show up and the meeting could not be held.
“We are acting in line with the Constitution, but the former government is creating hurdles,” said Zehri. “Bizenjo wants amendments to the Constitution to make way for him to become chief minister for life… Balochistan will not entertain any such move.”
 on Thursday named Allauddin Marri as the caretaker chief minister of Balochistan after parliamentary committee failed to evolve consensus on the name.){kind=link}