PA to elect leader of the house today

The 15th Sindh Assembly will elect its new leader of the house (chief minister) on Thursday (today) in a one-to-one race for the slot of the provincial chief executive.

Syed Murad Ali Shah of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is poised to become the CM again, as his party has secured a decisive majority in the House as a result of the July 25 general elections. He served as the CM from July 29, 2016 to May 28, 2018.

Shah will face off Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) MPA Shaharyar Khan Mahar, who is the consensus candidate of the incoming opposition alliance in the PA comprising the GDA, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

After last month’s polls, 97 MPAs of the PPP were elected to the provincial legislature, and the PTI secured 30 seats in the House, the GDA 13 and the MQM-P 21.

Thursday’s PA sitting will commence at 10am, following which the method of open balloting would be employed to elect the new leader of the house.

On Wednesday the nomination papers for the election were submitted and scrutinised. PPP MPAs Makhdoom Rafik Zaman and Mir Nadir Ali Khan Magsi were the proposer and seconder respectively for Shah. For Mahar, MQM-P MPA Khawaja Izharul Hassan was the proposer and PTI MPA Khurrum Sher Zaman the seconder. It is expected that after being elected by the PA, Shah would take the oath of office as the new chief executive of the province the same day at the Sindh Governor House.