| |
BA members take oath today
Afzal Malik
Quetta—Sixty-two newly elected members of Balochistan Assembly will
take oath today (Monday). Outgoing speaker Jamal Shah Kakar will
administer the oath to the newly elected members of the Balochistan
Assembly.
Total strength of BA is 65. Two seats were vacated by the present
governor of Balochistan Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi and former chief
minister of Balochistan Jam Muhammad Yousaf. Third seat fell vacant
due to death of Senator Sarwar Khan Kakar. Jam Muhammad Yousaf has
opted for national assembly seat as he won national and provincial
seats.
The inaugural session of the first assembly was held on April 26,
1972 which was presided over by Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai who
administered oath from its members. There were a total of 20 members
in the house. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto dissolved the assembly and imposed
Governor-rule and appointed Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti as Governor
Balochistan on February 14, 1973.
During the first assembly, Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai presented
the first adjournment motion in the House. Jam Ghulam Qadir tabled
the first privilege motion.
Shahnawaz Shahliani spoke on first ‘point of order’. Maulana Syed
Shams-ud-Din presented the first official resolution regarding
imposition of ban on sale of wine in the province.
The inaugural session of the second assembly was held on March 31,
1977 which was presided over by outgoing speaker Sardar Muhammad
Khan Barozai. The number of seats was raised to 43 in the house. The
assembly functioned for only 96 days. General Zia-ul-Haq imposed
martial law and dissolved the assembly on July 5, 1977.
The first session of third assembly was held on March 23, 1985 which
was presided over by Nawab Temoor Shah Jogezai. General Zia-ul-Haq
dissolved the assembly in May the same year.
The inaugural session of fourth assembly was held on November 3,
1988. Outgoing speaker Malik Sarwar Khan Kakar chaired the session.
The then governor Balochistan, General Muhammad Musa Khan dissolved
the assembly on December 16, 1988. Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti challenged
the dissolution of the assembly in Balochistan High Court through
his counsel Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry is cassently awaiting
restoration as CJP.
A full bench of BHC declared the dissolution of the house as illegal
and restored the assembly on January 18, 1989. Finally, the assembly
was dissolved on August 8, 1990. The inaugural session of fifth
assembly was held on November 17, 1990. Outgoing speaker Zahoor
Hussain Khosa chaired the session. The house was dissolved on July
11, 1993.
The first session of sixth assembly was held after 1993 elections on
October 18, 1993 which was presided over by the outgoing speaker
Malik Sikandar Khan advocate. The house was dissolved in November
1996.
The inaugural session of seventh assembly was held on February 11,
1997. The session was chaired by retiring speaker Waheed Baloch. The
house was dissolved on October 12, 1999. The inaugural session of
the eighth and ‘the first graduate assembly’ was held on November
28, 2002 which was chaired by retiring speaker Abdul Jabbar Khan.
The number of members was increased to 51 general seats and 14
reserved seats including 11 for women and three for minorities
(total 65 seats). It was the first assembly which completed its five
years term in November 2007.
General elections were held on February 18, 2008. New members have
been elected. All Baloch and Pashtoon nationalist parties boycotted
the elections. These nationalist parties played significant role
while they were in opposition in the last assembly. Now, these
parties will stage protests outside of the house as it is evident
from BNP-M’s rally organized on Saturday.
No single party has so far formed its government in Balochistan.
Jamiat Ulemae Islam has always remained part of every coalition
government in Balochistan from 1970s to 2007. Coalition government
of NAP and Jamiat declared Urdu as national language in 1970s. The
first Balochistan finance minister Ahmed Nawaz Bugti used to speak
in English in the House. He also presented the first budget of the
province in English language in 1972.
|
