Karachi: Retired justice Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui on Friday took oath as the 29th governor of Sindh province after Dr Ishratul Ibad was released from his office after about a 14-year stint.

Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, the chief justice of Sindh High Court, administered the oath at the Governor’s House in the presence of Syed Murad Ali Shah, the chief minister of Sindh, along with provincial ministers and senior officials.

The newly appointed octogenarian governor, however, got some criticism from political leaders for being too old and suffering ill health, although he enjoys a good reputation as a jurist and human being.

Local media reported that justice Siddiqui had to postpone his visit because of ill health to the mausoleum of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of the nation, where office holders conventionally pay a visit after taking the office.

The event was marked by another controversy, too, when a senator of ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) bitterly commented about the former governor, Ibad.

Senator Nehal Hashmi, talking to the media here, said that with the ouster of Ibad, the last sign of terror had been erased from the Governor’s House. Fourteen years ago, Ibad, the then hardline leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), was appointed governor by the regime of military ruler general Pervez Musharraf.

“Now, a true representative of PML has reached the Governor[s] House to mark the end of an era of terror,” Hashmi said.

He added that with the appointment of justice Siddiqui, the law and order situation would be improved in the province and the PML government would extend all cooperation to the Sindh government, run by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

“The Prime Minister has appointed that person as governor who did the justice with the people,” he said.

Nadeem Nusrat, the senior leader of MQM London, termed Hashmi’s statement highly irresponsible.

Nusrat asked if the outgoing governor was so bad why had the PML government not realised it before.

State minister for information Maryam Aurangzeb, however, said that the views of Hashmi were his own and personal, and it was not the official position of PML.

Ibad left for Dubai after leaving his office as governor. It was not immediately clear whether he would join MQM again, or a different party.

MQM recently fell apart, creating a Pakistani faction, disassociating itself from Altaf Hussain, the party’s founder, who has been living in self-exile in London for the past several decades.