Who will be caretaker Sindh CM?

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) leaders have started consultations for finalising the names for the caretaker Sindh chief minister (CM), ARY News reported on Monday.

ARY News obtained the list of names for caretaker Sindh CM recommended by the opposition parties including MQM-P and GDA.

The political parties expedited the consultation process after the announcements for the dissolution of the national assembly on August 9 and later provincial assemblies besides the establishment of the caretaker set-ups.

Sources told ARY News that MQM-P recommended the names of Shoaib Siddiqui and Younus Dagha, whereas, GDA forwarded seven names including Dr Safdar Abbasi, Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi, Fazlullah Qureshi and Rehmat Jaffery.

Fazlullah Qureshi is a former bureaucrat and Rehmat Jaffery is a former judge.

The MQM-P’s recommended names include former Commissioner Karachi Shoaib Siddiqui who had also performed duties as secretary in different institutions and Younus Dagha – a renowned industrialist and former federal secretary.

It was learnt that the Opposition Leader in the Sindh Assembly Rana Ansar will hold talks with the Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah after shortlisting three names.

In July, Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah had stated that the Sindh Assembly will remain active till August 13, and will be dissolved after completing the official term.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that consultations were underway regarding the appointment of a caretaker Sindh CM.

While responding to the question regarding the unannounced power outage, CM Sindh Murad Ali Shah stated that he had a conversation with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding the unannounced electricity load shedding.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) had opposed the proposal for early dissolution of the assembly and wanted the assembly to be dissolved after completing its terms.

The PPP leadership expressed that the dissolution of the assembly before August 12 would not be useful except to get thirty extra days for the campaign and premature dissolution would be a negative message for the democrats.