Murad Ali Shah takes oath as Sindh chief minister

KARACHI: Syed Murad Ali Shah has received a third consecutive term at serving as the Sindh Chief Minister (CM) as he took an oath of his office on Tuesday at Governor House, ARY News reported.

Governor Kamran Tessori administered him oath in a ceremony attended by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PPP MNAs and MPAs, representatives of business community and others.

During chief minister’s election, presided over by Sindh Assembly Speaker Owais Qadir Shah, a total of 148 votes were cast, with Murad Ali Shah obtaining 112. His opponent, MQM-P candidate Ali Khurshidi, garnered 36 votes.

Lawmakers from the Jamat-i-Islami (JI) and the Sunni Ittehad Council, which was joined by PTI-backed independents who won seats in the Feb 8 polls, abstained from participating in the voting process.

The politico has served twice as Sindh’s chief minister from 2016 to 2018 and then from 2018 to 2023, and this will be his third consecutive term.

Seasoned politician

Born in Sehwan Sharif in Jamshoro district, Shah is a civil engineer by profession as after his graduation from the NED University he joined the Water and Power Development Authority as an engineer.

He joined the Port Qasim Authority as an executive engineer and later went to the United States where he studied structural engineering and economic engineering from Stanford University. He also served as a director of the Fish Harbour Authority.

He was elected as the chief minister for the first time in 2016 when the PPP decided to replace Syed Qaim Ali Shah. Before becoming the CM, he had served the province as irrigation and energy minister and finance minister.

Before 2013 general elections he was declared ineligible to contest the election as he possessed dual nationality. He later surrendered his Canadian nationality and after getting clearance from a court he contested a by-election and became a member of the Sindh Assembly again.