The Sindh Assembly began the voting process to choose the next Chief Minister of the province after a brief delay.
The proceedings for electing the chief minister have commenced, and the two contenders for the position are Murad Ali Shah from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Ali Khurshidi from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).
Murad Ali Shah, who previously served as Sindh’s chief minister from 2016 to 2018 and then from 2018 to 2023, is expected to win the election for the third time due to the majority support from his party in the provincial legislature. His nomination papers were submitted by Ghulam Qadir Chandio, Saleh Shah, and Naeem Kharal.
On the other hand, Ali Khurshidi, the MQM-P candidate, has been a member of the provincial assembly from 2018 to 2023. Although the PPP has the majority to secure the election, the MQM-P decided to field a candidate to ensure a competitive process.
PTI lawmakers, who fought the elections as independents after losing their election symbol, are boycotting the Sindh CM election. PTI leader Haleem Adil Sheikh expressed their stance against what they consider a “stolen mandate” in the assembly.
The session is presided over by the newly-elected Sindh Assembly Speaker Syed Awais Qadir Shah, who was chosen along with Anthony Naveed as the new speaker and deputy speaker in the previous session. Today’s proceedings will determine the next Chief Minister of Sindh and will be overseen by the newly-elected speaker.