The Sindh government on Thursday formally appointed Dr Saifur Rehman as the administrator of Karachi, according to a notification issued by the Local Government and Housing Town Planning Department.

The notification, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, simultaneously accepted Barrister Wahab’s resignation, more than two months after he stepped down from the post.

“In exercise of powers, vested U/s 21(3) of Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 […] and with the approval of the competent authority, upon acceptance of resignation of Barrister Murtaza Wahab […] Dr Syed Saif-urRehman, an officer of PAS (BS-20) […] is hereby appointed as Administrator, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation,” it stated.

The notification also said that Rehman has been appointed with immediate effect until further notice.

The new administrator was previously serving as the principal secretary to Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori.

Today’s appointment comes days after the Sindh government said it would appoint the new city administrator in consultation with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P).

Earlier this week, Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani had said that the PPP has decided to give space to political parties. “Under the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, we believe in bringing people closer and not creating any divide.”

PPP’s Murtaza Wahab had resigned from the post of the KMC administrator on Sept 26, mentioning that he was unable to continue serving as the administrator “due to personal reasons”.

“There are forces at work here that don’t let us do our job efficiently. It’s not easy to work in this city as everything is resisted here,” Wahab had said in a press conference earlier.