The Chief Minister of Balochistan () is the head of government of Balochistan, Pakistan. The chief minister leads the legislative branch of the Government of Balochistan, and is elected by the Provincial Assembly. Given that he has the assembly's confidence, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits. Sarfraz Bugti is the current chief minister of Balochistan. The current Cabinet of Balochistan consists of 14 members
Oath as the chief minister The chief minister serves five years in office. The following is the English translation of oath of the chief minister of the province, as prescribed in the Third Schedule of the Constitution of Pakistan:
Background
Although Balochistan had been administered as the Chief Commissioner's Province of British India and, after partition, as part of the Balochistan States Union and West Pakistan, it did not exist as a separate federating unit with its own legislature until 1970. Under the Legal Framework Order, 1970, promulgated by Yahya Khan, the One Unit scheme was dissolved and Balochistan was created as a separate province alongside North-West Frontier Province, Punjab and Sindh. The first provincial assembly elections were held on 17 December 1970, returning 21 members. However, the assembly was not convened until 2 May 1972, after the cessation of East Pakistan and the assumption of power by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The first session of the provincial assembly elected Ataullah Mengal of the National Awami Party (NAP) as the chief minister, with Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo sworn in as governor a day earlier.
The Mengal government, a NAP–JUI coalition, was dismissed by Prime Minister Bhutto on 13 February 1973 on charges of fomenting separatist activity following the discovery of an alleged arms cache at the Iraqi embassy in Islamabad. This was followed by a four-year insurgency and the imposition of governor's rule. Civilian rule was restored briefly in 1973 under Jam Ghulam Qadir Khan of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), but the assembly was again suspended on 31 December 1975. After the coup of 5 July 1977 by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, martial law was imposed across the country, and Balochistan remained under Rahimuddin Khan's governorship until 1985.
Following the partyless elections of 1985, civilian government returned to the province under Jam Ghulam Qadir Khan. Since then, the province has been characterised by short-lived coalitions, no-confidence motions and high political volatility. The province experienced governor's rule again from October 1999 to December 2002 following the Musharraf coup, and briefly in early 2013 after the assassination of Hazara Shias in Quetta led to the dismissal of Aslam Raisani's government.
List of chief ministers of Balochistan
Chief ministerPartyTerm of officeRef.PortraitNameTook officeLeft officeTime in office1Ataullah MengalNAP2Jam Ghulam Qadir KhanPPP–Governor's rule3Mohammad Khan BarozaiPPP–Governor's rule and martial-law administration4Jam Ghulam Qadir KhanIndependent5Zafarullah Khan JamaliIJI–Khuda Bakhsh MarriCaretaker6Nawab Akbar Khan BugtiJWP–Mir Humayun Khan MarriCaretaker7Taj Muhammad JamaliIJI–Zulfikar Ali MagsiCaretaker–Nasir MengalCaretaker8Zulfikar Ali MagsiPPP–Zafarullah Khan JamaliCaretaker9Akhtar MengalBNP(M)10Mir Jan Mohammad JamaliPML(N)–Governor's rule11Jam Mohammad YousafPML(Q)–Mohammad Saleh BhutaniCaretaker12Nawab Aslam RaisaniPPP–Governor's rule13Nawab Aslam RaisaniPPP–Nawab Ghous Bakhsh BarozaiCaretaker14Abdul Malik BalochNP15Sanaullah Khan ZehriPML(N)16Abdul Quddus BizenjoPML(Q)–Alauddin MarriCaretaker17Jam Kamal KhanBAP18Abdul Quddus BizenjoBAP–Ali Mardan Khan DomkiCaretaker19Sarfraz BugtiPPPIncumbent
Statistics List of chief ministers by length of term # Chief Minister Party Term of office Longest continuous term Total duration of chief ministership 1 Jam Mohammad Yousaf 4 years, 353 days 4 years, 353 days 2 Aslam Raisani 4 years, 280 days 4 years, 280 days 3 Jam Ghulam Qadir Khan * 3 years, 53 days 5 years, 274 days 4 Jam Kamal Khan 3 years, 66 days 3 years, 66 days 5 Zulfiqar Ali Magsi 3 years, 20 days 3 years, 20 days 6 Abdul Malik Baloch 2 years, 199 days 2 years, 199 days 7 Taj Muhammad Jamali 2 years, 186 days 2 years, 186 days 8 Sanaullah Khan Zehri 2 years, 16 days 2 years, 16 days 9 Abdul Quddus Bizenjo * 1 year, 293 days 2 years, 73 days 10 Akbar Bugti 1 year, 183 days 1 year, 183 days 11 Akhtar Mengal 1 year, 157 days 1 year, 157 days 12 Jan Mohammad Jamali 1 year, 60 days 1 year, 60 days 13 Ataullah Mengal 288 days 288 days 14 Mohammad Khan Barozai 210 days 210 days 15 Zafarullah Khan Jamali 183 days 183 days 16 Sarfraz Bugti *
List by political party + Parties by total time-span of their member holding the Chief Minister's Office (as of ) No. Political party Number of elected chief ministers Total days holding the CMO 1 Pakistan Peoples Party 4 days 2 Pakistan Muslim League (Q) 2 days 3 Balochistan Awami Party 2 days 4 Independent 1 days 5 Pakistan Muslim League (N) 2 days 6 Islami Jamhoori Ittehad 2 days 7 National Party 1 days 8 Jamhoori Watan Party 1 days 9 Balochistan National Party (Mengal) 1 days 10 National Awami Party 1 days
See also Governor of Balochistan Government of Balochistan Chief Secretary Balochistan Provincial Assembly of Balochistan List of current Pakistani chief ministers List of current Pakistani governors Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister of Punjab (Pakistan) Chief Minister of Sindh
References
External links Chief Minister of Balochistan