KARACHI – After an excruciatingly long innings, the incumbent Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Qaim Ali shah is finally retiring and the most probable candidate for the said post is another “Saieen”, Murad Ali shah.
The decision has not been finalized yet but media reports and insiders suggest that the 53-year-old current Finance minister is the most likely pick for the now-vacant CM slot.
Murad Ali shah, an engineer by profession, was born in the year 1962 and is the son of a senior leader of PPP, Syed Abdullah Shah – a notable member of the famous Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) against the Zia tenure.
His father himself was the Sindh Chief Minister from 1993 to 1996 during the Benazir-led stint. He died of cancer at the age of 73 in 2007.
Murad received BE degree in Civil Technology from NED University, Karachi in the year 1986 and then earned MSc degrees in Civil/Structure Engineering in 1987 and Economic Systems in 1993 to become a qualified engineer. He is alumni of the prestigious Stanford University in California, United States.
Professionally, he became part of WAPDA as a junior engineer in 1986. He was also deputed in the Hyderabad Development Authority and the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority during his professional career.
Murad’s political journey started in 2002 as a member of the Sindh Assembly. During 2008, after being elected as an MPA from Jamshoro, he served as finance minister in the Sindh government.
He was barred from contesting the 2013 general elections because of his dual citizenship at the time and had to give up his Canadian citizenship to contest by-polls in the following year from PS-73 Jamshoro.
As the next head of a politically polarized Sindh, he is expected to perform much better than his predecessor, the aging Qaim Ali Shah.
