KARACHI - The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has given the two important slots including Sindh Home Minister and Prisons Minister to the youngest provincial legislator after a gap of four years.
An oath-taking ceremony was held at the Sindh Governor House where Governor Ishratul Ebad took the oath from the newly-appointed Home and Prison Minister Sohail Anwar Sial on Thursday. Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Information and Local Bodies Minister Sharjeel Memon, Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah, Anti-Corruption Minister Manzoor Wassan and other legislators of the ruling party was also present on the occasion. PPP has surprised the political circle by elevating MPA Shoail Anwar Sial from Larkana to the post of Sindh Home Minister with the additional post of the Prison Minister.
Shoail Anwar Sial, a landlord belongs to Larkana tehsil Bakrani, elected as the member of Parliament first time by getting two important vacant slots of Sindh Home and Prisons Minister. Sohail is the son of Anwar Ali Khan Sial who was the close aide of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
He was the third MPA who get the slot of Home Ministry after highly controversial Zulfiqar Mirza and Manzoor Hussain Wassan. Sohail has remained on various party slots of District Larkana after entering the political field. He is considered to be a close man to the PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PPP women wing president Faryal Talpur. It is believed that the close proximity with the party leadership was the main reason of elevating Sohail to the post of Home Minister.
Sial belongs to the community considered a political rival of Hunar community and skirmish between the communities has been continued since long. Sources privy to the matter revealed that PPP had given the party ticket to the Altaf Hussain Hunar for the same constituency but Altaf was later disqualified and the party allotted the ticket to Sial on PS-35. Sial managed to get close with party leadership and got such an important slot in the Sindh government. Sindh government has issued the notification ahead of both the slots given to Sial. Syed Murad Ali Shah, Minister for Finance and Energy, has also got the portfolio of development and planning. It is pertinent to mention here that after the formation of the provincial government in Sindh, the chief minister was holding the portfolio of home ministry.