MQMP sends five names to PM for Sindh governor’s post

KARACHI: Weeks after President Arif Alvi accepted the resignation of Sindh governor Imran Ismail, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQMP) on Monday forwarded five names to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for the post of governor.

MQMP sources said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had sought names for the governor’s post from the MQMP, the coalition partner in the Centre. The MQMP Coordination Committee finalized five names for the post former Karachi mayor Waseem Akhtar, former deputy Naib Nazima Karachi Nasreen Jalil, MQMP senior deputy convener Amir Khan, MNA Kishwar Zehra and Amir Chishti. The sources said the party’s top priority would be Akhtar who has the experience of working as mayor and provincial minister.

“The PMLN has made it clear to everyone in the coalition that the post of Sindh governor would be given to the MQMP, but the person would be decided with a consensus,” said an MQMP leader. “The names the MQMP suggested would be discussed and it is possible that objections are raised to some names. In this situation, the MQMP will review the names and put forward new names.”

Ismail had resigned as the 33rd governor of the province following the ouster of Imran Khan as a result of a no-confidence motion against him. Since then, the post of the Sindh governor has been lying vacant and Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani is working as the acting governor until the new appointment.