President approves Nihal Hashmi’s appointment as Sindh governor

President Asif Ali Zardari has approved the appointment of Nihal Hashmi as the new Governor of Sindh, the President’s Office said on Thursday.

According to the statement, the appointment was made on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif under Articles 48 and 101 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

The President has also signed the Commission of Appointment, formally confirming Hashmi’s appointment as the provincial governor.

Nihal Hashmi will take oath of office before the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court, the statement added.

The development comes after PM Shehbaz decided to appoint veteran Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader for the role and forwarded the summary in this regard to the president for approval.

“The prime minister met with Nehal and congratulated him on his appointment as the Sindh governor,” the the PM Office said in a statement.

Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Advisor to PM Rana Sanaullah were also present during the meeting.

Nehal is expected to take oath soon after the president’s approval.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Kamran Tessori, who was appointed as the governor in October 2022, will step down from his position after years of serving in the office.

The development comes after long political consultations in Islamabad.

Nehal hailing from Karachi’s Malir district has maintained a decades-long association with the PML-N.

The politico’s career began as a legal adviser to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from 1997 to 1999.

The PML-N leader later took on key leadership roles within the party, serving as president of the PML-N Karachi chapter in 2012 before being appointed general secretary for the Sindh chapter in 2014.

In 2015, he was elected to the Senate on a PML-N seat from Punjab. Although his party membership was briefly suspended in 2017, it was formally restored in 2021, marking his return to the party’s core political circle.