Murad sworn in as Sindh’s chief minister

Syed Murad Ali Shah was sworn in as Sindh’s 29th chief minister at the Governor House on Saturday. Acting governor Agha Siraj Khan Durrani administered him the oath of office in Urdu.

The ceremony was held in the sprawling lawn of the Governor House as a large gathering comprising several eminent personalities witnessed the swearing-in of the new CM.

Shah is the 29th chief executive of the province since the creation of Pakistan, and the 33rd since Sindh was given the status of a separate province during the British colonial rule. Shah has become the CM for the second consecutive term after his previous tenure from July 29, 2016 to May 28, 2018.

Among the prominent guests at the ceremony were Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, his sisters Bakhtawar and Aseefa, the Karachi Corps commander, the Sindh Rangers director general, caretaker CM Fazal-ur-Rehman, and PPP leaders Faryal Talpur, Sherry Rehman, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Islamuddin Sheikh and Mir Munawar Ali Talpur.

Businessmen, industrialists, politicians from other parties, and people of different walks of life also attended the ceremony, which virtually turned into a public gathering of the usual political nature owing to the large assembly of guests comprising supporters and activists of the PPP.

Owing to a large number of guests, the seating arrangement at the Governor House turned out to be insufficient, as some of the people had to stand up to witness the swearing-in.

Activists and supporters of the PPP resorted to loud sloganeering in favour of their leadership as soon as the oath-taking ended, with party supporters rushing towards Chairman Bilawal to meet him and take selfies with him.

The security personnel deployed on the occasion for the PPP chairman had to face a tough time while keeping party loyalists at a safe distance from Bilawal.

After the swearing-in, CM Shah also met and exchanged greetings with the guests, including the PPP chief. Chief Secretary Maj (retd) Azam Suleman Khan conducted the ceremony, which started around 6pm after an hour’s delay owing to the constant arrival of guests.

The ceremony started with recitation from the holy Quran. After the swearing-in, the guests were served tea and biscuits instead of any lavish multi-course meal.

The guests had started gathering in the lawn since 4pm and they had to brave the harshness of the weather because there was no canopy over them.

After the ceremony, the chief secretary issued this notification: “Syed Murad Ali Shah has assumed the office of the Sindh chief minister after taking the oath before the governor, as envisaged by Article 130(5) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973, at 6pm on August 18, 2018.”

The chief secretary also issued a separate notification intimating that the caretaker CM and his cabinet comprising seven ministers and an adviser cease to hold office after Shah took the oath of office as the new CM of the province. Law and order

Immediately after assuming charge as the new chief executive, Shah has convened a top-level meeting at the CM House on Sunday (today) on the law and order situation of the province.

A CM House spokesman said the meeting would be held at 9am and discuss, among other matters, the security and safety of citizens as well as ensuring peace during the upcoming religious festival of Eidul Azha.

He said the meeting would take important decisions to maintain law and order as well as to take decisive action against criminal and other lawless elements operating across the province.

He also said CM Shah had termed law and order to be his foremost preference for governance in his first speech in the Sindh Assembly after his recent election as the chief executive of the province for the second consecutive term.

In the same speech Shah had expressed concerns over the rising instances of street crime in the province during the past two months, resolving to take on the issue.