Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has approved the appointment of Nihal Hashmi as the new governor of Sindh province on Thursday, one of the country’s most populous provinces.
The president signed the Commission of Appointment after receiving a summary from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, acting under Pakistan’s constitution.
Hashmi, former senator and senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, will take the oath of office before the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court. President Zardari congratulated Hashmi and extended his best wishes.
Federal government shifts in Sindh
Pakistan’s federal government decided to remove Kamran Tessori, a politician from the MQM-Pakistan, and replace him with Nihal Hashmi, a senior leader of the ruling party, PML-N.
Tessori had been governor since October 2022. The post had been vacant before that, after a previous resignation. MQM-Pakistan is a regional political party and an important coalition ally of the ruling government.
Hashmi is a longtime PML-N leader and former senator. His appointment signals the ruling party’s strengthened influence in Sindh, home to Pakistan’s financial hub, Karachi.
Prime Minister Sharif met Hashmi in Islamabad and congratulated him. The appointment will take effect once the president formally approves it under Pakistan’s constitutional procedure.
The governor acts as the central government’s constitutional representative in the province and oversees important functions, including administering the oath to the chief minister and supervising provincial governance.
MQM reacts
MQM said it learned of the change through media reports and was not consulted by the federal government. The party said it would decide its next steps soon.
The decision comes after a recent political conference in Karachi, where participants called for more powers for local governments and the creation of new administrative units. Some speeches criticized the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which governs Sindh.
MQM leaders said the provincial government has not provided sufficient autonomy to urban centers such as Karachi. Following the conference, the PPP advocated for Tessori’s replacement.
Sindh Provincial Minister Saeed Ghani said the Governor's House was being misused and warned that certain federal ministers had tried to provoke public sentiment. He cautioned that ethnic politics could resurface and said PM Sharif should appoint either a governor from his own party or one who agreed with the PPP.
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