KARACHI: Syed Murad Ali Shah, senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, resigned on Friday as adviser to the Sindh chief minister on finance, fuelling speculation he would be assigned a key position in the Sindh government after winning a by-poll.

Mr Shah is most likely to contest the by-poll for the provincial assembly seat PS-73 (Sehwan) that has fallen vacant after his cousin, Syed Hasnain Shah, resigned as MPA last month.

Mr Shah, who served as finance minister in the previous term (2008-13) of the PPP government in Sindh, was barred from contesting the May 2013 general elections after the Supreme Court disqualified candidates with dual nationality for the polls. Later, his cousin replaced him as the candidate for the same seat and won.

“Mr Shah’s resignation has been accepted,” said a senior government official. He said: “The notification announcing his resignation has also been issued by the competent authority. No one has been appointed yet to replace Mr Shah. The decision in this regard is expected within a day or two by the chief minister.”

Elder son of the late Abdullah Shah who remained Sindh chief minister, Mr Shah has been an active parliamentarian and considered to be a close aide to Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah as well as PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

“Mr Shah has comfortably won the PS-73 in the past,” said a senior PPP leader. “When the issue of dual nationality came under the spotlight he was among the six Sindh Assembly members including four ministers who were forced to resign in December 2012 after they failed to submit affidavits to the Election Commission of Pakistan to prove that they were no more citizens of any other country,” he said.

However, Mr Shah continued to be part of the provincial cabinet as adviser to the chief minister.

His recent decision to contest the by-poll after meeting all formalities and surrendering Canadian nationality is being seen within the party as a major development which might lead to some change in the cabinet in the near future.

“So far, there is only speculation and gossip about the future role of Mr Shah in the Sindh government,” said another PPP leader.

“But if you consider his past record, he has been very active on almost every forum of the government whether it is related to administration or political relations with other parties.

So nothing is official yet but we are sure that he is going to have a key position in the government after becoming an MPA,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2014