PPP's Syed Murad Ali Shah has been elected as the chief minister of the province for the third consecutive time.
Shah has been elected the 25th leader of the House with 112 votes against MQM-Pakistan's Ali Khurseedi, who bagged only 36 votes. The hall resounded with pro-PPP slogans, as Murad was elected with a two-third majority for the first time.
In total, 148 members of the assembly participated in the voting process. However, nine PTI-backed winning members of the assembly as well as one from the Jamaat-e-Islami boycotted the session.
The Sindh Assembly witnessed a flurry of activity on Monday as the process for the election of the leader of the House commenced amidst political tensions. Speaker Owais Shah presided over the assembly session, which saw the swearing-in of the chief minister.
The session began with Speaker Shah calling upon members to take their respective positions as the voting process unfolded. Murad Ali Shah, the nominee of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for the position of leader of the House, garnered support from his party members, who moved to the right side of the assembly hall. Meanwhile, Ali Khursheedi, the nominated candidate from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), saw his supporters aligning on the left side of the chamber.
Despite the boycott of the opposition members, the assembly witnessed the arrival of key figures, including the newly sworn-in member, PPP's Nadir Magsi, after which the party's position in the House swelled to 112. Alongside him, caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar, along with his cabinet, were also present in the House.
As the assembly convened under the watchful gaze of the speaker, tensions ran high, with political factions manoeuvring to secure their preferred candidate for the coveted position of Leader of the House. With the fate of Sindh's political landscape hanging in the balance, all eyes remained fixed on the assembly floor, awaiting the outcome of this pivotal election.
