PML-N senior leader Nehal Hashmi named Sindh governor

• Once approved, Hashmi will replace Tessori.
• Speculation about change arose last year
• Hashmi served as PM adviser 1997–1999.
  

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has forwarded a summary to President Asif Ali Zardari for appointing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Nehal Hashmi as the Sindh governor.

According to the PM’s Office, the prime minister has sent the summary for Hashmi’s approval as the Sindh governor to President Asif Ali Zardari.

The statement added that PM Shehbaz met Hashmi in Islamabad and congratulated him on his proposed appointment as the governor.

Once approved by the president, Hashmi will formally assume the office of the governor of Sindh and replace MQM-P’s Kamran Khan Tessori.

Speculation about a change in the Sindh governorship has been circulating for some time, as the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which rules Sindh, was reportedly unhappy with Tessori’s tenure.

Hailing from Karachi’s Malir, Hashmi has been associated with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for several years. He served as adviser to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on law and justice from 1997 to 1999.

In 2012, he served as the president of PML-N’s Karachi chapter. Two years later, in August 2014, Hashmi, a lawyer by profession, was appointed general secretary of the party’s Sindh chapter.

In 2015, Hashmi — considered an active party worker — was elected as a Senate candidate of PML-N from a seat allocated to Punjab. His party membership was suspended in 2017 and later restored in 2021.