The Governor of Balochistan is the head of the province of

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. The post was established on 1 July 1970, after the dissolution of

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was ...

province and the end of One Unit. Under Pakistan's current parliamentary system, the governorship is a ceremonial position, as a symbol of the federation. The governor is appointed by the centre, whereas the principal head of the provincial government remains the elected

Chief Minister of Balochistan The Chief Minister of Balochistan ( ur, وزیر اعلیٰ بلوچستان) is the head of government of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. The chief minister leads the legislative branch of the provincial government, and is elected by the ...

. Despite this, Balochistan has seen several periods of martial law or

governor's rule In India, President's rule is the suspension of state government and imposition of direct Union government rule in a state. Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, if a state government is unable to function according to Constitutional ...

where, in the absence of a chief minister, the governor exercised broad powers. As of November 2022, Mir Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali is serving as acting governor after the resignation of Syed Zahoor Ahmad Agha on 13 April 2022. The first governor of the province was Riaz Hussain (1970–1971). The longest-serving governor was

Rahimuddin Khan Rahimuddin Khan (21 July 1926 – 22 August 2022) was a general of the Pakistan Army who served as the 4th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 1984 to 1987, after serving as the 7th governor of Balochistan from 1978 to 1984. He als ...

(1978–1984).

Periods of governor's rule

After the dissolution of One Unit in 1970, Balochistan attained the status of a full province, administered by its first governor, General Riaz Hussain, pending general elections, which were held the same year. The left-wing

National Awami Party The National Awami Party (NAP), translated from Urdu to English as National People's Party, was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), by A ...

(NAP) secured the highest number of votes in the province, whereas the ruling party at the centre, the

Pakistan People's Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...

(PPP) under

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...

, secured none. The NAP ministry was however dismissed by Bhutto in 1973, and its senior leaders were imprisoned. Bhutto imposed governor's rule under

Akbar Bugti Nawab Akbar Shahbaz Khan Bugti ( Balochi, Urdu: ; 12 July 1927 – 26 August 2006) was a Pakistani politician and the Tumandar (head) of the Bugti tribe of Baloch people who served as the Minister of State for Interior and Governor of Baloc ...

, and military operations against tribal insurgents commenced in 1973. After the Bhutto regime was overthrown in a military coup by General

Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, ( Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial ...

in 1977, the NAP leaders were released and the Chief Justice of the

Balochistan High Court The Balochistan High Court ( ur, ) is the highest judicial institution of Balochistan, Pakistan. The court is formally known as the High Court of Balochistan. It is situated in the provincial capital, Quetta. Mir Ali Dost Bugti was the firs ...

, Khuda Bakhsh Marri, became governor; the other chief justices also became governors of their corresponding provinces. Marri was replaced by General Rahimuddin Khan, who announced a

general amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offic ...

, ending military action in the province. Governor's rule returned under military ruler

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

, who dissolved the provincial government in 1999, and for a brief period under the fourth PPP ministry in 2013, culminating in the dismissal of the provincial government under

Aslam Raisani Muhammad Aslam Khan Raisani ( ur, ) (born 5 July 1955 in Sarawan, Balochistan) is a four times elected member of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan who served as the Chief Minister of Balochistan from 9 April 2008 until 14 January 2013. ...

amid rising sectarian violence.

Governor House

The seat of the Governor is located at Governor House,

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...

, constructed in 1888 during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

. It was heavily damaged during the

1935 Quetta earthquake Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

, but was repaired by the Viceroy of India,

Lord Willingdon Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (12 September 1866 – 12 August 1941), was a British Liberal politician and administrator who served as Governor General of Canada, the 13th since Canadian Confederation, and as Viceroy and ...

. The Governor House was opened to the public in 2018, by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government.

List of governors of Balochistan

References

External links

Official website
{{Governor of Balochistan Governors of Balochistan, Pakistan Provincial political office-holders in Pakistan

Periods of governor's rule

Governor House

List of governors of Balochistan

See also

References

External links