ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has decided to appoint Nasreen Jalil as the new governor of the southern Sindh province, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Sunday.
The office of the Sindh governor fell vacant on April 12 after Imran Ismail tendered his resignation, hours before Shehbaz Sharif took oath as the 23rd prime minister of Pakistan.
President Arif Alvi accepted Ismail's resignation after a few days. Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani had been performing the duties as the interim governor.
The government has now decided to appoint Jalil, a member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) party, as the new governor.
PM Sharif has "sent a summary to the president for Nasreen Jalil's appointment as the Sindh governor," Information Minister Aurangzeb confirmed to Arab News.
Jalil has served as a senator from March 2012 to March 2018. She would be the third female governor in the history of Pakistan after Dr. Shama Khalid, who served as the governor of Gilgit-Baltistan from March-September 2010, and Begum Raana Liaquat Ali Khan, who was the Sindh governor from 1973 to 1976, according to local media.
Born in Lahore, Jalil spent most of her time in Karachi. She went to Paris for education and is fluent in English and French, besides Urdu, Geo News channel reported.
Jalil has twice served as a senator. She had been elected as the chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights in 1994 and 2012.
