KARACHI – The Sindh Assembly is all set to elect new chief minister, with Syed Murad Ali Shah of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) vying for the position for the third time.
Newly-elected Sindh Assembly Speaker Awais Qadir Shah will chair the session and will oversee the chief minister’s election.
Murad Ali Shah is expected to secure victory over Ali Khurshidi of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement–Pakistan (MQM-P), owing to his party’s majority in the provincial legislature.
Ghulam Qadir Chandio, Saleh Shah and Naeem Kharal were the contenders of the PPP for the same CM slot.
Shah previously served as Sindh’s chief minister from 2016 to 2018 and then from 2018 to 2023. If elected, this would mark his third tenure in the same role.
Shah’s nomination papers were presented by Ghulam Qadir Chandio, Saleh Shah, and Naeem Kharal on his behalf a day earlier.
On the other hand, Khurshidi, aged 38, represented MQM-P in the provincial assembly from 2018 to 2023. He secured reelection from PS-119 (West IV), garnering 22,424 votes.
Although the PPP holds the majority in the Sindh Assembly, the MQM-P decided to nominate a candidate to ensure Shah’s election isn’t unopposed, as stated by a party spokesperson.
Khurshidi, the MQM-P candidate, has consecutively won the Sindh Assembly seat from Orangi Town. He obtained an undergraduate degree in Electronics from Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology in 2007. He was appointed parliamentary leader by his party during the assembly.
Besides it, the Sindh Assembly includes Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers. Initially contesting as independents after being deprived of their election symbol by the Supreme Court, PTI formed an alliance with the Sunni Ittehad Council, with all its backed elected lawmakers joining the party.
Meanwhile, PTI leader Haleem Adil Sheikh declared their boycott of the Sindh CM election, citing concerns about lawmakers with alleged stolen mandates being present in the assembly. Sheikh also mentioned their prior boycott of the election of the speaker and deputy speaker, indicating their intention to reclaim allegedly ‘stolen’ mandates through the courts.
In a session held a day earlier, PPP’s Syed Awais Qadir Shah and Anthony Naveed were elected as the new speaker and deputy speaker, respectively, with the majority of lawmakers endorsing their appointments.
