Syed Murad Ali Shah (Urdu: سید مراد على شاه; born 8 November 1962) is a Pakistani politician and structural engineer who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Sindh province of Pakistan and a member of the Sindh Assembly.[2] It is his third term as Chief minister. Shah earlier held portfolios such as Minister of Irrigation of Sindh and Finance Minister of Sindh.
He became a member of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh in 2002 for the first time representing PS-73 (Dadu III).[8] He was elected to the Sindh Assembly in 2008 as a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party and was the provincial Minister for Irrigation in Syed Qaim Ali Shah's cabinet. In 2013, he was made the provincial finance minister.[9] In July 2016, Shah was elected to the chief minister's office.[10]
He was minister for irrigation (Sindh) and finance minister of Sindh before his elevation to chief minister of Sindh in 2016.[citation needed] Shah was barred from contesting in 2013 despite giving up his Canadian citizenship. After proving to the courts that he did not hold Canadian nationality, Shah was able to run in the election. He was elected to the Sindh Assembly for a third consecutive time. He was subsequently assigned the finance ministry in the provincial cabinet.[7]
Murad Ali Shah became Chief Minister of Sindh on 29 July 2016 after the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) made the decision to replace Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah with Murad.[11] Murad Ali Shah would become Sindh’s first and only Chief Minister to serve 3 consecutive times in a row.[12] He served as Chief Minister from 2016 until the 2018 Sindh provincial election, in which he was elected for the second time as Chief Minister as a PPP candidate. He would serve as Chief Minister for a relative full term until the 2024 Sindh provincial election in which he was elected for the third time on a PPP ticket. Opposition to Murad, primarily the Grand Democratic Alliance, Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have protested against electoral manipulation by the PPP in provincial elections several times, primarily in 2024, where Murad’s first few months in office were amid widespread protests against PPP rigging.[13][14]
Policies and Criticism
Murad Ali Shah was originally appointed for the slot of Chief Minister by PPP due to his skill in distributing water and financial resources during his time in the federal government as well as his closeness to Benazir Bhutto according to PPP.[12] However, critics and opposition to Murad accuse him and the PPP provincial government of bad governance, poor infrastructure, “ghost” schools, lack of government action, poor distribution of medicine and needs, bad management of government departments and an overall lack of development.[12]
According to some opposition politicians, the province has seen little to no government development or action with some suggesting that Sindh’s infrastructural and medical systems have worsened since Murad took office.[12][15][16][17]