Murad Ali Shah, the newly elected chief executive of Sindh, solicited assistance from all sides of the aisle, the government and opposition benches, after being elected for the third time.
Murad, the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) candidate for chief minister of Sindh, was chosen by the Sindh Assembly today.
The third time fortunate has served as Sindh’s chief minister twice, from 2016 to 2018 and again from 2018 to 2023, and this would be his third consecutive term.
CM Murad took the floor following his election to thank the PPP and its top leadership for selecting him for the position. “I was picked for the third time to govern the province, and I was elected as a member of this.
Murad recalled his early political career, saying that his father had instructed him and his brother that one of them should run in the 2002 elections because he couldn’t. He said that PPP leader Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, who was in exile at the time, encouraged him to participate in the elections.
He recalled a “time” when talk of his arrest was on the rise, but Bilawal stated that “Murad will be my CM from jail” if he is imprisoned. Murad also spoke about how he transformed himself without criticism.
“The PPP would not jeopardize national security for the sake of a few seats that were taken away from us. Instead, we’ll fight a legal battle for them.The CM-elect said that there have big terrorist incidents in the last six months, but the new government will have a special focus on improving the peace and security situation, with getting rid of the dacoits in the kacha areas on top of the priority list.
Speaking about Bilawal’s determination, Murad recalled the catastrophic floods in Sindh in 2022, saying that the PPP chairman had tasked him to prepare a plan to house the displaced people.
“I thought Bilawal is a young politician, he will forget about it, but he asked me right on the next morning about the plan,” he said.
He then lauded PPP founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, saying that if anyone has the credit for making Pakistan a nuclear state, it is the former prime minister.
Murad then prayed for courage to run the province and the ability to bring all parties and opposition in harmony while dealing with provincial affairs.
Today, the election for the province’s chief executive began after a half-an-hour delay via an open ballot with those supporting Muran and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Khurshidi directed to go right and left of the assembly hall, respectively.
A total of 148 members of the assembly participated in the polling, which saw Murad secure 112 votes to become the 25th chief minister of Sindh in the contest against MQM-P Ali Khurshidi, who got only 36 votes to his name.
