KARACHI: President Arif Alvi on Monday accepted the resignation of Sindh Governor Imran Ismail from office.

Mr Ismail had resigned as the 33rd governor of the province following the ouster of Imran Khan as a result of the no-confidence motion against him at the National Assembly.

“In terms of Article 101 (4) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President has been pleased to accept the resignation tendered by Mr Imran Ismail from the office of Governor of the Province of Sindh, with effect from 17th April 2022,” said a notification issued by the cabinet secretariat.

According to the notification, Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durani has been directed to perform the functions of the governor till the appointment of a new incumbent.

‘New governor will be from MQM-P’

Meanwhile, the ruling coalition was in the process of finalising the name of the new Sindh governor.

“The new Sindh governor will be from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P),” said a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

“Actually, they have to decide first about the name from their side. Then obviously that name would be discussed and it’s very much possible that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif may raise objection on some names. So one thing should be clear to everyone — the post of Sindh governor would be given to the MQM-P, but the person would be decided with a consensus,” he said.

Sources in the MQM-P seconded the opinion, saying that the party was still looking into different names. The party was in constant touch with the PML-N leadership, but so far no name had been finalised from its side, they said.

“But let me be very frank that it’s just a beginning,” a senior MQM-P leader said, adding: “We don’t need to be speculative about these things. We are very much hopeful that things would lead to better results.”

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2022