Bashir Memon 'likely to replace' Kamran Tessori as Sindh governor

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has reportedly stepped up its efforts to replace incumbent MQM-P-backed Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori with party leader Bashir Memon, sources told Geo News on Friday.

The ruling PML-N contacted its key coalition partner, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), earlier today and the top leadership of the two parties agreed on changing the Sindh governor, according to the sources.

The sources said that the change in the governor's office is likely to take place in the coming days, adding that leaders from the two political parties earlier today discussed the matter regarding the change of governor.

They said it was likely that the incumbent Governor Tessori could be replaced with Memon, who also served as the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) chief.

Memon was appointed the PML-N Sindh's president on November 7, 2023, while Tessori took the oath of his office on October 10, 2022.

Responding to the reports, a spokesperson for MQM-P said discussion regarding the change of governor was not underway at any level.

"Centre has not contacted us yet in this regard," the party spokesperson added.

In April this year, the sources claimed that former Sindh caretaker chief minister Justice (retired) Maqbool Baqar could be appointed as the new governor of the province.

Responding to one such report earlier this year, MQM-P leader Khajawa Izharul Hassan dismissed the potential removal of Tessori, citing a social contract.

Hassan had said that according to the social contract, the governor should be the representative of urban Sindh if the elected chief minister repeatedly belonged to the rural areas of the province, adding that the appointment of the incumbent governor [Tessori] was fully in harmony with the prevailing social contract in the province.

Moreover, a PPP leader Waqar Mehdi on April 12 this year declared Tessori as the "biggest failure as governor" in the history of the province, saying he had failed to discharge his due role as he, being the representative of the federation in the province, was supposed to develop consensus on political issues.

PPP Sindh General Secretary Waqar Mehdi had called upon the PML-N ruling in the Centre to immediately finalise its nominee as the new governor of Sindh. “Kamran Tessori better go on leave until the PML-N chooses the new governor for Sindh.”