Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday forwarded a summary to President Asif Ali Zardari recommending the appointment of senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Syed Nehal Hashmi as the Governor of Sindh.
According to a PM Office statement, the government had decided to appoint Nehal Hashmi as the new Governor of Sindh.
The prime minister also met with Nehal Hashmi, and extended congratulations on his nomination as the provincial governor.
Senior leaders of the ruling PML-N, including Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and the prime minister’s adviser on political affairs Rana Sanaullah, were also present during the meeting.
Earlier, reports circulating on social media suggested that the incumbent Sindh governor Kamran Tessori, who is affiliated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan, could be removed from his position.
Concerns regarding Tessori’s role as governor have been raised by the Pakistan Peoples Party since 2024.
In April 2024, the PPP accused Tessori of “creating a political divide and widening the gap between urban and rural areas of Sindh,” and urged the PML-N-led federal government to remove him from the post.
Later, in December 2025, the MQM-P leadership dismissed rumours about Tessori’s possible removal.
The PPP has repeatedly demanded the Sindh governor’s removal, alleging that the Governor House Karachi was being used for political activities.
Who is Nehal Hashmi?
Nihal Hashmi, who hails from Karachi’s Malir area, has been associated with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) for many years.
A lawyer by profession, Hashmi served as an adviser on law and justice to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from 1997 to 1999.
In 2012, he was appointed president of the PML-N’s Karachi chapter. Two years later, in August 2014, he was named general secretary of the party’s Sindh chapter.
Hashmi later entered the upper house of parliament in 2015 when he was elected to the Senate of Pakistan on a PML-N ticket from a seat allocated to Punjab.
His party membership was suspended in 2017 but was reinstated in 2021, allowing him to resume his political activities within the party.
