Sindh Assembly begins voting to elect new chief minister | Maqvi News

KARACHI: After half an hour of delay, the Sindh Assembly Monday began voting to elect the next provincial chief minister with Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) candidate Murad Ali Shah poised to retain the coveted position for the third consecutive time.

At the onset of today’s session, speaker Awais Qadir Shah administered the oath of newly-elected Sindh Assembly member Nadir Magsi who was unable to take his oath on Saturday with rest of the lawmakers.

The election for the province’s chief executive is to be carried out via open ballot with those supporting PPP’s Shah and MQMP’s Khurshidi directed to go right and left of the assembly hall, respectively.

Commenting on the election process, the speaker noted that the assembly’s door will remain closed and no member will be allowed to leave the floor of the House till voting culminates.

Shah, as the nominee of the PPP for the top office in the province, is sure to win the election against Muttahida Qaumi Movement–Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Ali Khurshidi due to the majority his party enjoys in the provincial legislature.

It should be noted that Shah has served twice as Sindh’s chief minister from 2016 to 2018 and then 2018 to 2023. This will be his third time on the same post if elected.

Shah’s nomination papers were submitted by Ghulam Qadir Chandio, Saleh Shah and Naeem Kharal on his behalf a day earlier. 

Khurshidi, on the other hand, has served as a member of the provincial assembly for the MQM-P from 2018 to 2023. He was elected again from PS-119 (West IV), with 22,424 votes.

Although the PPP has the majority in the Sindh Assembly to elect its CM, the MQM-P decided to field its candidate as a formality to not let Shah be elected unopposed, said a party spokesperson.

The MQM-P candidate, 38, has been elected to the Sindh Assembly seat from Orangi Town for the second consecutive time. He obtained an undergraduate degree in Electronics from Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology in 2007. 

Khurshidi was elevated to the slot of parliamentary leader by his party during the assembly. 

A day earlier, the assembly elected PPP’s Syed Awais Qadir Shah and Anthony Naveed as the new speaker and deputy speaker as the majority of the lawmakers voted for them. 

Today’s session will be convened by the newly-elected Sindh Assembly Speaker Syed Awais Qadir Shah and the elections for the CM will also be overseen by him.