KARACHI: Ninety-one-year-old Qaim Ali Shah has served as a federal minister, a senator and thrice as the chief minister of the southern Pakistani province of Sindh, winning every election save one that he has contested since 1960. 

The nonagenarian candidate is once again vying for a Sindh provincial assembly seat from his home constituency of PS-26 Khairpur, and says he is “not so old” to not contest an election, especially when he has the “vigour” and “determination.” 

The only time Shah has lost an election in the past was in 1997, when the party he has for decades been affiliated with, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), suffered significant losses nationally. Since the 1970s, Shah’s home city of Khairpur has more or less been represented by PPP parliamentarians in both the provincial and national assemblies. 

Shah has filed his nominations and will now be facing the Grand Democratic Alliance’s Hajji Imam Bux Phulpoto in the upcoming national elections scheduled for Feb. 8. 

“I feel that I’m not so old not to fight [an election],” Shah said with a smile on his face, when asked what made him contest at the age of 91. 

“People say that I’m very old. Old is gold. But I feel that I have vigour and of course, I can deal with things properly. Therefore, if I [can] stand [in elections], [have] determination, why should I not fight?” 

Born on September 13, 1933 in the Khairpur princely state of British India, Shah completed his early education in his hometown of Khairpur and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Karachi University, followed by a bachelor’s degree in law from SM Law College. 

He began his political career by contesting and winning as an independent candidate for the council chairman’s seat in the Khairpur district during the military rule of General Ayub Khan. 

He then joined Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, at the time a visiting faculty at the SM Law College in Karachi, after he launched the PPP in 1967. 

In July 1977, Shah was jailed after ex-PM Bhutto and members of his cabinet were arrested following a military coup by General Zia-ul-Haq. After the army takeover, Shah remained with the PPP even as many other senior leaders of the party left the outfit or became inactive. 

Over the next 11 years of Haq’s military rule, Shah and his family faced imprisonment, torture and financial hardships due to the freezing of their accounts and seizure of lands. 

Shah’s nephew Syed Pervez Ali Shah was labelled a “prisoner of conscience” in Amnesty International’s 1985 annual report for enduring six years of torture in Haq’s rule. 

“It is a question of principle, you know, once I joined him (Bhutto)… I must go with him,” he said, referring to the hard times seen by his party. 

After the execution of Bhutto in July 1977, Shah continued to serve his daughter, ex-PM Benazir. He pledged his allegiance to Asif Ali Zardari after the assassination of Benazir in a gun and bomb attack in Dec. 2007 and currently his loyalties lie with the PPP chairman, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the son of Benazir and Asif Zardari. 

“Though [there were] a lot of threats, [I] went to jail also and for about one month, I was [kept] in a dark room all the time, very difficult time,” he said. 

“[But] it was a conviction and determination, which was really imbibed in me by Shaheed [Zulfikar Ali] Bhutto.” 

Shah’s party fellows hail him for his loyalty and maintaining a “clean image” over the decades. 

“Qaim Ali Shah has an unmatchable political career among those of his age,” Waqar Mehdi, a member of Shah’s PPP party, told Arab News. “He won elections and had constantly been reelected because of his clean image and loyalty with the party.” 

Nazir Leghari, a senior political analyst, said Shah stood out in the league of politicians who had demonstrated a lifelong commitment to their parties. 

“He stands as one of four living politicians who signed the first Constitution of Pakistan in 1973. Throughout his remarkable six-decade-long political career, he has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to his ideological and political principles,” Leghari told Arab News. 

“Despite the turbulence that followed the ouster of Bhutto, Qaim Ali Shah held his ground. He continued his support for Nusrat Bhutto [Bhutto’s wife] after Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s imprisonment and subsequent execution in 1979. When Benazir Bhutto [Bhutto’s daughter] returned to Pakistan [from abroad in 1986], it was Qaim Ali Shah who arranged her inaugural visit to Sindh,” the analyst recalled. 

“Following the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007, he supported Asif Ali Zardari [Bhutto’s widow], and currently, he stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari [Bhutto’s grandson]. This enduring loyalty and dedication spans across generations.” 

Leghari said Shah had preferred party even over his personal relations and severed ties with his brother-in-law, AQ Brohi, a notable lawyer, for his opposition to Bhutto. 

“It can be said that he stands as the most loyal and active politician among his contemporaries,” Leghari said. 

Fazil Jamili, a senior journalist, said Shah, besides serving on government posts, had long held the position of the head of the PPP Sindh chapter, which spoke of both his “organizational prowess and administrative competence.” 

“Serving three terms as the chief minister of Sindh province and also leading the party, Qaim Ali Shah demonstrated both organizational prowess and administrative competence,” he told Arab News. 

“When we speak of ‘loyalty over generations,’ Qaim Ali Shah’s name stands out.”