KARACHI – Sindh MPA and PPP leader Jam Madad Ali passed away at a private hospital in Karachi on Friday due to complications caused by Covid-19. He was 58.

Ali tested positive for the virus 15 days ago and was admitted to a private hospital in Karachi for treatment.

PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari expressed deep sorrow over Ali’s death, saying that his passing away was a “huge loss for the party and the people of his constituency”.

In a statement posted on the PPP’s Twitter account, Bilawal said that the late politician was an “active leader” who will always be remembered.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and provincial Governor Imran Ismail extended their condolences over Ali’s demise, with the former terming the deceased an “exemplary human being and good friend”.

President Arif Alvi also extended condolences on Ali’s demise in a tweet and prayed for his family.

The news of his deaths comes a day after Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Seth passed away due to the novel coronavirus. Seth’s funeral was held in Peshawar earlier today.

According to senior journalist Shams Keerio, Ali started his political career in the early 1990s when he was elected to the Sindh Assembly after the PPP government was dismissed. At the time, Ali’s uncle Jam Sadiq had become the Sindh chief minister.

However, the politician fled to Lahore and stayed there for two years allegedly to escape political persecution by the PPP. He was de-seated from the provincial assembly by the PPP due to his prolonged absence.

In the mid-90s, Ali returned to Sindh on the persuasion of the late Pir Pagara and joined the PPP government when he was elected to the provincial assembly once again. After the PPP government was dismissed for the second time, he joined Pakistan Muslim League (Functional) and was elected as MPA in the late ’90s as well.

The deceased was appointed as the chairman of Sindh Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee in 2002, after he was elected to the provincial legislature again. He became leader of the opposition in Sindh Assembly after he won a seat in the provincial assembly in 2008 from the PML-F’s platform.

He rejoined the PPP in 2017 and won a seat from the Sanghar district. Ali was heading the Standing Committee on Transport and was a member of the Standing Committee on Finance at the time of his death.