A file photograph of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Senator Nihal Hashmi. PHOTO: EXPRESS
Nehal Hashmi will take oath as the 35th Governor of Sindh today in a ceremony scheduled for 4 pm at the Governor House, Karachi.
The oath will be administered by the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court, following which Hashmi will formally take charge as the 35th governor of the province.
Hashmi, a Karachi-based lawyer and politician, was a member of the Senate of Pakistan from March 2015 to February 2018. Born on January 28, 1960 in Karachi, he began practicing law in the late 1980s and specializes in criminal and constitutional cases.
During his student years, he founded the All Pakistan Youth League and then formally entered politics in the 1990s. He joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in 1992 and served as advisor on law, justice and human rights to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from 1997 to 1999.
He has represented clients in several high-profile cases, including matters relating to Nawaz Sharif before the National Accountability Bureau and proceedings relating to the Murtaza Bhutto case. Hashmi served as president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in Karachi in 2012 and was appointed general secretary of the party in Sindh in August 2014.
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In 2015, he was elected to the Senate from a Punjab seat on the PML-N ticket. He has also been actively involved in raising civic issues related to Karachi. Later, the PML-N-led federal government appointed him governor of Sindh.
President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday approved the appointment of Nehal Hashmi as the new governor of Sindh on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, replacing Kamran Tessori.
According to a statement from the Presidential House, the approval was granted under articles 48 and 101 of the Constitution. The president also signed the appointment commission formalizing Hashmi’s appointment. Earlier, the prime minister had sent a summary to the president for approval and later met Hashmi to congratulate him.
Hashmi will take oath before the Chief Justice of Sindh High Court before formally assuming office. The president and the prime minister extended their congratulations and expressed good wishes for his tenure.
Meanwhile, outgoing Governor Kamran Tessori thanked the President, Prime Minister and other officials for their support during his tenure and expressed hope that the incoming Governor would continue public welfare initiatives, particularly support programs for IT students in the province.
