By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari approved on Thursday the appointment of Nehal Hashmi, a leader of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, as governor of Sindh province, hours after Sharif formally recommended the politician for the post.
The move ends the tenure of Kamran Tessori, a figure from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, and marks a significant realignment in the fragile ruling coalition that has governed the country since the 2024 general elections.
A statement posted on the official X account of the presidency said Zardari acted on the prime minister’s advice under Articles 48 and 101 of the Constitution. “The Commission of Appointment has been signed,” it said. “He will take his oath before the chief justice of the Sindh High Court.”
The announcement followed a brief meeting on Tuesday at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad, where Sharif informed Hashmi of the decision in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Sharif’s political adviser Rana Sanaullah, according to a video released by the premier’s office and a separate statement from it. The prime minister then forwarded a formal summary to Zardari for approval.
The development immediately drew sharp criticism from MQM-P leaders, who said they had received no prior warning despite the governorship being part of their original power-sharing agreement with Sharif’s party. Farooq Sattar, a senior MQM-P figure, told a private television channel that the party leadership, including Chairman Khalid Maqbool Siddique, learned of Tessori’s removal through television reports. “There was no indication, no prior information, no consultation, and the government didn’t even take us into confidence,” Sattar said. “This was a clear message to us by PM Shehbaz that they don’t need us anymore.”
Sattar added that Siddique had called the Prime Minister’s Office to register a protest, describing the party’s reaction as one of “grief” and “despair.” He urged MQM-P to treat the issue as a “red line” and consider immediate withdrawal from the federal government. “The government has bid us farewell from their side,” he said, “but now we have to see what moral justification we have to stay in the government.” The MQM-P had held the Sindh governorship since before the current coalition was formed.
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz leaders said that discussions about replacing Tessori had been underway for months. They noted an understanding between the PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party — the dominant force in Sindh — that the next governor would come from PML-N ranks.
Tensions between the PPP and MQM-P, both nominal allies in the federal setup, have simmered for more than a year. In April 2024, the PPP publicly accused Tessori of deepening the urban-rural divide in Sindh and demanded his removal. By August, MQM-P threatened to quit the coalition if the center proceeded with any change. Rumors resurfaced in December 2025, only for MQM-P leaders to dismiss them at the time.
The broader coalition framework dates to the aftermath of the 2024 elections. Under the arrangement, the PPP secured the presidency, the Senate chairmanship and the deputy speakership of the National Assembly. In exchange, the PML-N was granted the right to name governors in Sindh and Balochistan, while the PPP received those posts in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Hashmi, the appointee, is a longtime PML-N stalwart who served as a senator after winning election in March 2015. His political career was derailed by a fiery speech in May 2017 in which he lashed out at investigators examining then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family in the Panama Papers case. In the recorded remarks, Hashmi warned: “Those who are scrutinising them, we will not spare you.” He added, “You are making the life of the prime minister difficult; the Pakistani nation will make it difficult for you to live.”
Then-Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar took suo motu notice of the comments. Hashmi initially resigned from the Senate hours after the video surfaced but later withdrew the resignation. The PML-N revoked his party membership anyway. In February 2018, the Supreme Court convicted him of contempt, sentenced him to one month in jail and disqualified him from holding public office for five years.
The appointment of a figure with such a contentious judicial history to one of Pakistan’s most politically sensitive provincial posts is already fueling debate about the stability of the ruling alliance at a time when economic pressures and provincial grievances continue to test its cohesion.
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