ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: President Arif Alvi granted the approval for the appointment of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Kamran Tessori for the Sindh governor post, which fell vacant after the resignation of PTI’s Imran Ismail.
The president gave approval for the appointment under Article 101 (1) (there shall be a Governor for each province, who shall be appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister) of the Constitution.
Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani had been performing the duties of acting governor.
Sources said that the MQM-P Rabita Committee was “surprised” at the development, adding that the three names suggested by the party for the coveted slot did not include Tessori.
The MQM-P had nominated Nasreen Jalil, Waseem Akhtar, and Aamir Chishti, they said, adding that Tessori’s name was not sent for appointment of governor.
Kamran Tessori was born in Karachi on May 5, 1974. He’s the trader of Tessori Gold, continuing his family business of gold.
Sources said that the businessman had made contacts with former Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim in order to enter into politics. He later joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid. He was considered to be a close aide of Rahim.
Tessori remained inactive after the end of the PML-Q government. Then he became close to the Pir Pagara Group and joined the Muslim League, Functional group.
Then he joined the MQM.
Kamran Tessori, the former deputy convener of MQM-P, had recently joined back the party after partying ways with it in 2017. Reports say he was blamed for the split in the party and for the expulsion of politician Farooq Sattar from the party.
The party had split into MQM-Pakistan and MQM-London following founder Altaf Hussain’s incendiary speech on Aug 22, 2016. However, it was further divided into two factions based on party offices when the party ticket was given to businessman-turned-politician Tessori to contest Senate elections in March 2018.
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry described it as “downfall” of the province while addressing a press conference.
“I want to apologize to the citizens of Karachi that MQM has given such a good choice for the governor. In this government, it seems that being a murderer, an extortionist has become a basic condition for becoming a governor, prime minister, etc. There is no extortion case in Karachi in which the name of Kamran Tesori does not figure,” he said.
