PPP takes reins of Sindh, again

Daily Times

The Sindh Assembly elected PPP-Parliamentarians candidate Syed Qaim Ali Shah as chief minister of the province for the third time on Thursday. Qaim secured 86 votes, whereas MQM candidate for the slot, Syed Sardar Ahmed, got 48 votes and came in second in the contest, while the PML-F candidate, Imtiaz Sheikh, secured 18 votes. Later, speaking in the House Qaim thanked everyone for expressing confidence in him. He said that law and order in the province would be his top priority. He said that a 10-party alliance fought against the PPPP but people in Sindh again expressed confidence in the party. The chief minister said that his government would come up to the expectations of the people. Qaim was sworn in as the chief minister at a ceremony held at the Governor’s House. Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan administered him oath. Qaim said that his government would try to deliver more than it did in its previous tenure. His election was held through open division of members. Some seven ministers also took oath along with the chief minister. They are Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Makhdoom Jamiluz Zaman, Manzoor Wasan, Sharjeel Inam Memon, Raja Khan Maher and Dr Sikanadar Mandhro. Syed Murad Ali Shah has been taken as adviser. Also, the Sindh Assembly elected PPPP leader Agha Siraj Durrani as speaker, and Shehla Raza as deputy speaker of the House. Durrani secured 87 votes and Shehla 86 during separate elections at the Sindh Assembly hall. Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Khuwaja Izharul Hassan and Heer Sohu got second positions by securing 48 votes each in the polls for speaker and deputy speaker, respectively. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Irfaullah Marwat and PML-F’s Nusrat Saher Abbasi got 18 votes each in the election for the two slots, respectively. Former speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro conducted the polls to select the new speaker, while the newly elected speaker, Agha Siraj Durrani supervised the deputy speaker’s election. After being elected as the speaker, Durrani said that former speaker Khuhro had performed well in the office, and he will also utilise his abilities to run the assembly affairs in a good manner. He said that he will try to run the House in a balanced way. He appealed both the treasury and opposition to extend their cooperation in this respect. Former speaker Khuhro, who is also an expected parliamentary leader of the PPPP, assured the new speaker of his full support. MQM’s leader Syed Sardar Ahmed also assured the speaker of his party’s cooperation. He hoped that Durrani will perform well in office, and said that office of the speaker was very much important as founder of the country; Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had also assumed the seat, while remaining in office as the governor general. PPPP leader Manzoor Wasan hoped that the new speaker whose father too had held the same office will perform better than Khuhro. Another senior leader of the PPP, Hazar Khan Bijrani said that assuming office as the speaker is an honour for Durrani.