QUETTA: Pakistan’s former caretaker interior minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti was elected as the 25th chief minister of the southwestern Balochistan province on Friday, after no other lawmaker submitted nomination papers to contest the post.
Bugti previously served as the home and tribal affairs minister of the province and remained a senator from 2015 to 2021. Last year in August, he took the oath as the country’s interim minister for interior before resigning in December to contest the recent elections.
He participated in the provincial polls after joining Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
“I am thankful to President @AAliZardari, Chairman @BBhuttoZardari, my party @PPP_Org, and the people of #DeraBugti who allowed me to serve the people of #Balochistan,” he said in a social media post. “May Allah guide me and help me to do justice with this heavy responsibility.”
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by area, holds a strategic position of immense importance due to its rich mineral resources, including natural gas, coal and minerals, along with its access to the Arabian Sea through the deep-sea port of Gwadar.
The port is also a cornerstone of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, making the province a pivotal player in regional connectivity and trade routes between Asia, the Middle East and beyond.
Balochistan has also experienced a low-level insurgency for decades by Baloch separatist groups who express grievances over political disenfranchisement, economic marginalization and the exploitation of the province’s rich natural resources without adequate benefit to the local population.
However, Pakistani authorities have always denied these claims.
Bugti, scheduled to take the oath at the Governor House tomorrow, asked Baloch insurgents to cease fighting the state and engage in dialogue while speaking to the media.
“The Pakistan Peoples Party believes in dialogue to resolve all political issues,” the newly elected chief minister said. “We wish all militants to skip violence and become part of the mainstream political paradigm. However, the state will not condone any kind of violence.”
Pakistan’s former interior minister, Mir Sarfraz Bugti, elected unopposed as Balochistan’s chief minister
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Pakistan’s former interior minister, Mir Sarfraz Bugti, elected unopposed as Balochistan’s chief minister
- Bugti took oath as a caretaker federal minister last August before resigning in December to contest the recent elections
- He asks Baloch insurgents to cease fighting and engage in dialogue, warning that the state would not condone violence
Saudi charity KSrelief distributes 4,000 winter kits in northwest Pakistan
- The charity will distribute around 800 kits each in five districts, containing two quilts and winter clothing
- The program is part of a broader winterization initiative to help communities affected by harsh weather
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) on Friday said it had started distributing 4,000 winter kits in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to help communities affected by harsh weather.
The program is part of KSrelief’s larger winterization initiative that was launched at the Saudi embassy in Islamabad earlier in January. Under the broader initiative, 22,000 winter kits will be distributed among more than 154,000 Pakistanis across the country.
Each winter kit includes two polyester quilts, warm shawls and winter clothing. Around 800 kits will be distributed in each of the Chitral, Upper Dir, Upper Kohistan, Mansehra and Kurram districts.
"The initiative targets communities severely impacted by harsh winter conditions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, as well as selected areas of Punjab and Sindh experiencing extremely low temperatures," KSrelief said in a statement.
The project is being carried out in close collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority, provincial disaster management authorities, the Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Hayat Foundation.
The statement said the initiative reaffirms KSrelief's continued commitment to alleviating winter-related hardships and improving the living conditions of vulnerable populations across Pakistan.
The Saudi charity has launched numerous projects across Pakistan in food security, health, education and disaster response in recent years, deepening the bonds of friendship and brotherhood between the two countries.
