ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former caretaker interior minister Sarfraz Bugti announced to join the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) at a ceremony in Turbat, Balochistan, on Monday after stepping down from his post over the weekend to contest the next general elections.
According to Pakistan’s legal framework, members of a caretaker setup are responsible to organize free, fair and transparent election and cannot participate in the national polls.
Bugti, who previously belonged to the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), had been elected to the Senate in 2021.
“The Pakistan Peoples Party is not a new political faction for me,” he told the ceremony in Turbat in the presence of the top PPP leader and former Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari.
“When I was born, I was part of the same party,” he added. “My father launched his political career from the PPP and continued to remain part of it until his death.”
The former interim minister said Balochistan was an underdeveloped province where people rightly complained of their deprivations.
He also acknowledged the province had been grappling with significant security deficit, hoping that the situation would soon improve under the PPP leadership.
Addressing the ex-president, Bugti emphasized the need for proper road network for enhanced connectivity within the province and called for more hospitals and medical facilities in remote areas.
He also said the PPP government in the province would counter nationalist politics and deal with the specter of separatism by carrying out development work in Balochistan.
Bugti, who resigned from Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar’s cabinet citing “personal reasons,” previously served as Balochistan’s home minister after winning the 2013 elections as an independent candidate.
Soon after, he joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) which has traditionally been PPP’s rival party.
Top politician from Balochistan province joins Pakistan Peoples Party as electioneering begins
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Top politician from Balochistan province joins Pakistan Peoples Party as electioneering begins
- Sarfraz Bugti resigned on the weekend as caretaker minister since caretaker setup members are barred from contesting national polls
- The former caretaker minister was previously part of the Balochistan Awami Party when he became a senator in 2021
Pakistan PM praises stuntman ‘Sultan Golden’ for breaking record for fastest reverse car driving
- Sultan Muhammad Khan drove one mile in reverse in just 57 seconds to set new world record, local media widely reported
- Khan previously broke world record for longest motorbike ramp jump in 1987, managing a 249-feet long jump in Lahore
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari praised renowned stuntman Sultan Muhammad Khan, popularly known as “Sultan Golden,” for breaking the world record for fastest reverse driving a car on Saturday.
As per local media reports, Khan achieved the feat in the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province Quetta, when he drove one mile in reserve in just 57 seconds.
“Sultan Golden has made Pakistan proud across the world,” Sharif said in a statement released by his office.
The Pakistani prime minister said his government is committed to providing all possible facilities in every field of sports.
Zardari also heaped praise on the stuntman for setting the new world record.
“He said the achievement reflects the skill, courage and dedication of Pakistanis, strengthening Pakistan’s positive image globally and wished him continued success,” the president’s official X account wrote.
Khan has been performing stunts since the 1980s in Pakistan, a country where motorsports does not gain traction due to a lack of infrastructure and popularity of other sports such as cricket, football and squash.
Khan, who hails from the southwestern city of Pasni, earned the nickname ‘Golden’ early on in his youth for his iconic curly golden hair.
In March 1987, he entered his name in the Guinness Book of World Records when he performed the longest motorbike ramp jump in Lahore. Khan managed a 249-feet long jump, beating the previous record by two feet.
