PPP nominates Murad for Sindh CM, Durrani for speaker

• Rehana Leghari nominated for post of deputy speaker Sindh Assembly
• Bilawal says he will monitor performance of CM, ministers

KARACHI: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Saturday nominated Murad Ali Shah for the post of Sindh chief minister while Agha Siraj Durrani has been nominated for the post of Sindh Assembly speaker.

Both Shah and Durrani occupied the same slots in the last stint of PPP in Sindh which concluded in May 2018.

Shah had first taken up the top ministerial job in Sindh on July 29, 2016, when he was chosen as Qaim Ali Shah’s successor.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari gave the go-ahead for the nominations in a meeting of the party’s parliamentary committee.  He also nominated Rehana Leghari for the slot of deputy speaker in Sindh Assembly.

Former president of Pakistan and PPP Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari also attended the meeting briefly. Former chief ministers Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Murad Ali Shah, Faryal Talpur, PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, General Secretary Waqar Mehdi and Information Secretary Aajiz Dhamrah were also present on the occasion.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari exhorted the newly-elected MPAs that people have attached high expectations in the party by electing them a third time to govern the province. He asked the parliamentary party to forget the last 10 years in government and get ready for more transparent and merit-based governance to deliver to the people.

The PPP chairman stressed that issues of water scarcity, improvement in health and education sectors should be the top priorities of the new Sindh government, and added that there will be no lifetime chief minister or ministers as he himself will be monitoring the performance of all, including MPAs.

Bilawal further said that various puppets were cobbled up together to challenge PPP in Sindh in 2018 election but they were defeated with the support of people. He added that another group of puppets was being inducted in the federal government but pledged that PPP would expose their hollowness as well and rout them out.

He told the MPAs-elect that “you all are my team and I expect the best performance from you to revive the glorious past of the party all over the country.”

The PPP won majority seats in Sindh in the July 25 polls, enabling it to form the government in the province again.

Meanwhile, opposition parties in Sindh Assembly have called a joint meeting on Monday, which will include representatives from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the second biggest party in the province, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Grand Domestic Alliance (GDA).

The meeting will mull over nominations for chief minister, PTI leader Khurram Sher Zaman said, adding that PTI will take all parties along in making decisions.

Zaman further said that they will give tough time to PPP in Sindh and will resist the provincial government if it tries to repeat the worst 10-year governance.

A Sindh Assembly session has also been summoned on August 13 at 10 am, Acting Sindh Governor Agha Siraj Durrani announced a day earlier.