KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Syed Murad Ali Shah is all set to face Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Khurram Sher Zaman for the office of Sindh chief minister today (Friday), as the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) refused to place their candidates.
Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani on Thursday announced four candidates for the post – PPP’s Syed Murad Ali Shah, Dr Sikandar Mandhro and Jam Mehtab Dahar, and PTI’s Khurram Sher Zaman.
Murad Ali Shah reached along with other MPAs and submitted his nomination forms at the Sindh Assembly Secretariat, while Khurram Sher Zaman also filed his nomination form. Murad Ali Shah later came for the scrutiny process along with former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah, and also met the Sindh Assembly speaker. As the MQM and PML-F stayed away from the process, no major candidate was placed against the PPP for today’s election. MQM MPAs Khuwaja Izharul Haq and Syed Sardar Ahmed had highly criticised the PPP on the failures of its government in the province and said the election was not a change of system but a change of faces. The PTI candidate had only three votes, including a proposer and a seconder. Khurram Sher Zaman said that if elected, his first priority would be to extend the Rangers’ powers and improve the situation of law and order. According to the Sindh Assembly speaker, the House will elect the chief minister in the afternoon. He also said that during the scrutiny process, a total of seven applications were received, of which four were accepted. Meanwhile, Murad Ali Shah said that his priority would be law and order in the province. He also said that he would announce his policy statement during the Sindh Assembly session after his election.