KARACHI: Though he does not buy the notion, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah’s penchant for inviting youngsters for selfies during his extensive visits of the city appears to be inspired by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“It is part of my job and my nature has always been just like that,” says Mr Shah in a candid interview with Dawn as he sits behind the revolving chair in his small chamber at Chief Minister House.

He spoke chiefly on the performance of his government since July 29 when he took oath of the top office replacing his predecessor who he always called his mentor.

With over 140 days having passed, the interview gleaned his side of the story to analyse the scorecard. “It is hard to be satisfied with whatever I have done. We still have a long way to go,” he said.

For his critics, most of the actions he has taken so far are part of an image-building campaign to portray his soft image in public. But for him and his colleagues in the cabinet and the provincial legislature, everything that he has done, however cosmetic it might seem to his detractors, is well thought out and has meaning.

Before removal of his predecessor, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, when he was his trusted lieutenant, he was known for being reclusive and shy of going into the public. However, he says he has never been away from his constituents in Sehwan. “If I can’t recognise by name, I can identify them by their caste, area and faces,” he said.

The Pakistan Peoples Party’s leadership based in Dubai chose him to replace the elder Shah and assigned him the task to restore the party’s image that had suffered a dent over the eight years of party rule that was marred by charges of rampant graft and bad governance.

When he was assigned the task he was given some tips to bring about changes and adjustments in his own personality. The party desired to have an individual who faced no charges of corruption, whose persona inspired awe and was not shy of mingling with the public.

“He had to transform him thoroughly. And what wonders most of us is that no one coached him for such radical changes in his personality,” says a close aide.

He was in the office by 8am on his first day as chief minister. He made it a routine to start his day from his chamber in the Sindh Secretariat. That forced employees to get there in time — at least three hours before the time they were in the habit of arriving.

“The exercise benefits thousands of people coming from the remotest districts to register their complaints and grievances,” concedes a senior official. “But, ministers are still complacent and refuse to pick up the pace.”

Mr Shah picked Karachi as his turf to launch his charm offensive. However shy he earlier was, he chose restaurants and tea stalls in congested neighbourhoods to have meal with his visibly guarded cabinet members.

He visited schools and middle class localities and encouraged youngsters to take selfies with him and as Trudeau did in a Canadian mall, he would often grab their mobile phones and took selfies himself.

He slashed the number of vehicles with protocol staff from six to two. A security van equipped with jammer system around the CM’s car and an ambulance are still part of his convoy. He ordered that dozens of cars in the CM House should get government registration plates, meaning they should pay tax.

“He ordered a minister to remove flag on his car until he fixed registration plate on it in place of the fancy stuff that boasted him as a minister,” says another minister.

He removed barricades on the road outside CM House to allow smooth flow of traffic. For his detractors in the opposition parties, all such steps were nothing but cosmetic intended to grab publicity and airtime on nosy TV channels.

“The government should do well for people instead of merely adorning TV screens,” said a lawmaker associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

Mr Shah’s assistants in the government insist such actions are not everything he is doing, yet, they are not frivolous as many may see them.

“His insistence on fixing government plates on CM House vehicles is a message for everyone to follow the rules no matter how influential one is. Everyone has to pay to our exchequer that it deserves,” says a CM House spokesman.

The removal of barricades outside CM House, he says, also shows the government’s plan to remove all such obstacles from the places, except for security forces’ installations, to make the city open and accessible to everyone.

“And for reduction in protocol one can easily understand that it is meant to save people from (the consequences of) an unnecessary VIP protocol,” he maintains.

“And CM feels happy to have Selfies with his young admirers.”

All these actions are not everything I do,” said Mr Shah.

“My government is seriously busy in developing Sindh in coming months. My first target is to improve Sindh’s development portfolio before 2018 elections and the direction I will thus set for the administration will be followed by our future governments no matter whosoever is in-charge,” said Mr Shah.

Mr Shah said that he had reduced the completion period of ongoing and new schemes to ensure that small schemes should not take more than two years and large schemes should complete within four years.

“Many schemes in Karachi will complete this fiscal year; progress on major roads’ schemes across Sindh including Sanghar-Nawabshah is satisfactory. We’ll complete K-IV bulk water supply project in Karachi and Karachi-Thatta dual carriageway in two years. I have planned to pick less number of schemes but get them completed sooner than the scheduled time.”

In all this hullaballoo, many concede the CM looks alone in his quest to accomplish the task his leadership has assigned to him: keep people in Sindh loyal to the PPP in 2018 elections.

Few from his 36-strong cabinet are seen realistically supporting his cause. Most come late in offices and go seldom in the field. However, Mr Shah insists his cabinet is fully supporting his cause.

“I don’t want to be falsely admired,” says Mr Shah, “what I want to see is: people are better served, children get education and everyone receives fine health services. My cabinet members are with me,” he said.

He said that human resource was the key obstacle in his cause. The number of grade-21 and other senior bureaucrats, including police, is less than as needed. Similarly, said Mr Shah, vacancies were available in abundance but doctors were not there to ensure everyone in Sindh got a doctor.

“Believe me! The situation in Sindh was extremely poor before our party took charge in 2008. It is much better now and we are trying to improve it further,” said Mr Shah.

“I’ll be responsible for anything right or wrong whenever my performance is judged,” he said with an affectionate smile.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2016