QUETTA: A group of dissident lawmakers belonging to the ruling Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) on Wednesday filed a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo under the first clause of Article 136 of Pakistan’s constitution.

Bizenjo was sworn in as the 18th chief minister of the country’s largest province in terms of landmass in October 2021.

Amid Pakistan’s raging political and economic crises, the dissident BAP lawmakers filed the no-trust motion with the support of their provincial assembly colleagues from Awami National Party (ANP) and disgruntled members of former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who are led by Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind.

The no-confidence resolution was submitted in the Balochistan Assembly after it was signed by 14 provincial legislators who demanded a session to carry out the voting process.

“During the no-confidence motion against former prime minister Imran Khan, the Balochistan Awami Party asked the Pakistan Democratic Movement for its support to bring about regime change in Balochistan,” said the province’s ex-chief minister Jam Kamal Khan who led the no-trust campaign against Bizenjo.

“It is the beginning to the end of bad governance in Balochistan which has been pestering the masses in the province,” he continued. “There is much confidence that the motion will succeed and we will be able have sufficient numbers to oust the sitting chief minister.”

It may be recalled the province’s former chief minister Khan had to step down in October last year after Bizenjo brought a no-trust motion against him in collaboration with the opposition parties and other likeminded lawmakers in the assembly.

“If Pakistan and Balochistan are in crisis due to nonserious and incompetent governments, they should be removed, though the democratic setup in the country must complete the five-year term,” Khan said, adding the BAP members believed a chief minister from their party should be accountable to them.