Sarfraz Bugti | |
|---|---|
| سرفراز بگٹی | |
| Chief Minister of Balochistan | |
| Assumed office 2 March 2024 | |
| Governor | Abdul Wali Kakar Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhail |
| Preceded by | Ali Mardan Khan Domki |
| Member of theProvincial Assembly of Balochistan | |
| Assumed office 29 February 2024 | |
| Constituency | PB-10 Dera Bugti |
| Federal Minister for Interior & Narcotics Control, Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Caretaker | |
| In office 17 August 2023 – 15 December 2023 | |
| President | Arif Alvi |
| Prime Minister | Anwaar ul Haq Kakar |
| Preceded by | Rana Sanaullah |
| Succeeded by | Chaudhry Salik Hussain Aun Chaudhry Mohsin Naqvi |
| Minister for Home & Tribal Affairs of Balochistan | |
| In office January 13, 2018 – May 31, 2018 | |
| In office October 14, 2013 – January 1, 2018 | |
| Pakistani Senator from Balochistan | |
| In office March 2015 – March 2021 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | |
| Political party | PPP (2024-present) |
| Other political affiliations | BAP (2018-2023) PMLN (2013-2018) |
| Residence(s) | Dera Bugti District,Balochistan,Pakistan |
Mir Sarfraz Bugti[a] is a Pakistani politician who is theChief Minister of Balochistan since March 2024. He belongs to thePakistan People's Party. Prior to this, Bugti was Home and Tribal Affairs Minister ofBalochistan.[1] Bugti was asenator from March 2015 to March 2021.[2]
On 17 August 2023, he took oath as caretakerInterior Minister and resigned from the position on 15 December 2023.[3][4]
Sarfraz was born in a village ofDera Bugti,Balochistan, Pakistan.[5]
His father Mir Ghulam Qadir Masori Bugti was a tribal elder of the Masori sub-clan of theBugti tribe who was a member ofGeneral Zia'sMajlis-e-Shoora before becoming a part of thePakistan People's Party (PPP).[6] Mir Ghulam was known to be active against the sardari or neo-feudal system of Balochistan and being a political rival ofNawab Akbar Bugti.[5]
His brother Jan Mohammad Bugti has also been active in politics as a PPP candidate.[7]
Sarfraz completed his early education at theLawrence College, Murree before enrolling at theQuaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad to study Defence and Strategic Studies (DSS) but had to interrupt his higher education when his father was jailed byPervez Musharraf.[5]
Sarfraz was arrested in 2007 when he reached his village to oversee preparations for the forthcoming elections and later jailed under maintenance of public order charges and Jan Muhammad Bugti was allegedly kidnapped by security agencies from the office of the Election Commission in Dera Bugti when he had gone there to file his nomination paper.[8]
Later, he tried to join thePakistan Army and to pass theInter-Services Selection Board (ISSB) exams.[5]
In 2013, he won the Provincial Assembly elections fromConstituency PB-24 as a representative of the Baloch community fromDera Bugti with a clear majority as an independent candidate by securing 10013 votes, and after elections joinedPML (N).[9]
Sarfraz became Minister of Interior of Balochistan on 14 October 2013.
In August 2023, he took charge as the country's Caretaker Interior Minister. One of his first decisions was to ask for the release of thePashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) activists.[10]
On 15 December 2023, he resigned from this position in order to contest the2024 Pakistani general election.[4] In December 2023, Bugti joinedPakistan People's Party.
In 2024, Bugti was elected unopposed as theChief Minister of Balochistan.[11] This came after he joined thePakistan People's Party (PPP). He also got the support ofPakistan Muslim League (N) (PMLN). His nomination for this post was announced by People's Party Co-ChairmanAsif Ali Zardari.[12] Bugti outlined a comprehensive plan of about sixty measures aimed at enhancing governance. He urged ministers to actively engage with their respective departments, ensure effective service delivery and accountability. To assess progress,key performance indicators (KPIs) will be established to assess departmental performance.[13]
Baloch journalistMalik Siraj Akbar has called Sarfraz a representative of "hyperPakistani nationalism", which he considers being engineered by the country'sestablishment.[14]
Sarfraz is a proponent of anIslamic welfare state.[5] This is in order to combat Balochistan’s high poverty rate.[15]
Sarfraz is a notable critic ofBaloch separatism, and has spoken against the organizationBaluchistan Republic Army (BRA) headed byBrahamdagh Bugti, grandson ofAkbar Bugti. The BRA is declared as a terrorist organization by the government of Pakistan.[16]
In aBBC interview, Bugti claimed that the Indian agencyResearch and Analysis Wing (RAW) was involved in funding and arming militants in Balochistan, but that it stopped doing so after its agent was arrested in Balochistan.[17][18]
Instead of healing the Baloch people's wounds, the establishment has promoted a dangerous wave of hyper Pakistani nationalism. Hence, people like Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti spend most of their time questioning other people's patriotism and resort to bizarre ways to prove themselves as better Pakistanis than the rest.
Azad Kashmir |  | |
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Balochistan | ||
Gilgit–Baltistan | ||
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | ||
Punjab | ||
Sindh | ||
Italics indicate acting chief ministers | ||
