Shah, Durrani set to reprise CM and Speaker's roles in Sindh

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PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday nominated Murad Ali Shah for the Sindh chief minister's job and Agha Siraj Durrani for the Speaker's role, according to a party spokesperson.

The decision was taken at a party meeting where former president Asif Ali Zardari and several other senior party leaders were also present.

Bilawal told the newly-elected MPAs that "people have high expectations" of them, and asked the parliamentary party to "forget the last 10 years and get ready for a more transparent and merit-based style of governance".

The PPP chairman warned that "there will be no life-time ministers or chief ministers as he himself will be monitoring the performance of all, including MPAs."

With PPP having bagged an overwhelming majority in Sindh in the July 25 polls, both Shah and Durrani could be set to reprise the roles they also had in the previous provincial government.

Meanwhile, the party's choice for the Sindh Assembly's deputy speaker is Rehana Leghari.

Shah had first taken up the top ministerial job in Sindh on July 29, 2016 when he was chosen by PPP as Qaim Ali Shah's successor.

He also had little trouble fending off Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's Khurram Sher Zaman in the provincial legislature's voting session, as he had secured 88 votes as compared to the opposition candidate's three.

While the overall number of PPP's seats in the Sindh assembly has gone down from 91 in 2013 to 74 this time around, it is still likely to be enough for Shah and Durrani to secure another term in the office.

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