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Home , Asfandyar Wali Khan, Asif Ali Zardari, Hina Rabbani Khar, House arrest, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Liaquat Ali Khan

Biographies of main political leaders of

INCUMBENT POLITICAL LEADERS

ASIF ALI ZARDARI since 2008 is the eleventh and current President of Pa- kistan. He is the Co-Chairman of the (PPP), a role he took on following the demise of his wife, . Zardari rose to prominence in 1987 after his marriage to Benazir Bhutto, holding cabinet positions in both the PPP governments, and quickly acquired a reputation for corrupt practices. He was arrested in 1996 after the dismissal of the second government of Bena- zir Bhutto, and remained incarcerated for eight years on various charges of corruption. Released in 2004 amid ru- mours of reconciliation between and the PPP, Zardari went into self-imposed exile in . He re- turned in December 2007 following Bhutto’s . In 2008, as Co-Chairman of PPP he led his party to victory in the elections. He was elected as President on September 6, 2008, following the resignation of Pervez Musharraf. His early years in power were characterised by widespread unrest due to his perceived reluctance to reinstate the Chief of the Supreme Court (who had been dismissed during the Musharraf imposed emergency of 2007). However, he has also overseen the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution which effectively www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk reduced presidential powers to that of a ceremonial figure- Asif Ali Zardari, President head. He remains, however, a highly controversial figure and continues to be dogged by allegations of corruption. Mohmmad government as Minister of Housing and Public Works. In 1988 changed political party and joined the Pa- Complete version of the Biography of Asif Ali Zardari kistan Peoples Party (PPP), with whom he entered the gov- at CIDOB’s website: http://www.cidob.org/es/ ernment of Benazir Bhutto as federal minister of Tourism, documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/(filtro)/ to spend a year later to reoccupy the portfolio of Housing pais/(pais)/1133 and Public Works. In 1993 he was sworn in as President of the National Assembly after the election victory of PPP. His leading as main political opposition to the military re- gime of President Musharraf cost him five years in YOUSAF RAZA GILANI on charges of corruption, between 2001 and 2006. So far, Prime Minister of Pakistan since 2008 Gilani is the longest serving Prime Minister of Pakistan, with Yousaf Raza Gilani is the current Prime Minister of Pakistan. 45 months in power. The challenges facing Gilani are ending He was nominated as Prime Minister by the PPP, with the Islamist and tribal insurgency. support of its coalition partners in March 2008. Gilani belongs to a family of politicians and Shiite religious Complete version of the Biography of Yousaf Raza of the district of , in Punjab province. Graduated in Gilani at CIDOB’s website: http://www.cidob.org/es/ journalism from the University of Punjab, in 1976 he began documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/(filtro)/ his political career in the Pakistan (PML). pais/(pais)/1133 In 1983 he gained his first elected position as president of Multan District and in 1985 he won a seat as an inde- pendent in the National Assembly, joining the Junejo 1 CHAUDHRY AHMED MUKHTAR Minister of Defence Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, a prominent businessman, joined the PPP in 1990, and immediately made a mark by defeating a Muslim League stalwart, Chaudhry Shu- jaat Hussain, in the general election of 1993. His early electoral success against an established political family hastened his rise in the party hierarchy, and he was made Minister for Commerce, a position at which he served for three years from 1993 to 1996. He did not win a seat in the elections of 1997, but served as Secretary General of the PPP from 1997 to 1999. In 2002, during

Pakistan: Country Profile Country Pakistan: the Musharraf government, he was arrested on charges of corruption (pertaining to his tenure as Commerce Min- ister) and spent a year in jail before being acquitted. He again defeated Chaudhry Shujaat of the Muslim League

to win a seat in the National Assembly in the elections www.pakistan.gov.pk of 2008, and was one of the contenders for the slot of Yousaf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister Prime Minister in the new PPP-led coalition. Although he was not made the Prime Minister, he was compensated with the important portfolio of Defense. He has recently spoken out publicly for the restoration of NATO supply routes through Pakistan, provided NATO agrees to more favorable terms of compensation for use of the routes.

HINA RABBANI KHAR Minister Foreign Affairs belongs to a prominent feudal family of southern Punjab. Her uncle was the of the Pun- jab in the early 1970s, and was a prominent PPP leader. Other members of the family have also been active in poli- tics. Ms. Khar was thrown into politics in 2002, when a new came into effect, which stipulated that parliamen- tarians must have college degrees. Since her landlord fa- ther did not have the requisite academic qualifications, he asked his daughter, a graduate of the University of

Management Sciences and Amherst College in the US, to www.mod.gov.pk fight the election in his stead. With minimal campaigning Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Minister of Defence and no public appearances (in deference to the cultural traditions of the area), she was elected as a member of the National Assembly on a PML(Q) ticket. She served as State Minister for Economic Affairs in the cabinet of from 2004 to 2007. Ms. Khar was refused a ticket for the elections of 2008 by PML(Q), and decided to join the PPP and fight the election on a PPP ticket. She was elected on a gen- eral seat, and was appointed State Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, a position in which she served for three years from 2008 to 2011. During her tenure, she became the first woman to present the federal budget in the National Assembly, as the post of Minister for Fi- nance had always previously been held by men. In 2011, upon the resignation of Foreign Minister , she was appointed Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. She made an important official visit to in July 2011, and appeared to have set in motion a thawing

of relations, which had been cold since the at- www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum CIDOB International Yearbook 2012 Yearbook CIDOB International tacks of November 2008. Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister Foreign Affairs

2 OTHER POLITICAL LEADERS attempt. Subsequently, a murder charge was registered against him, but he left the country clandestinely, sur- facing first in in January 1992, and then Chairman of the Movement for Justice (PTI) arriving in later the same month. He requested Imran Khan is a former cricketer turned politician, and political asylum from the Government of the UK and was the Chairman of the political party Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) granted the same, eventually becoming a British citizen (: “Movement for Justice”). With a degree in Politics in 2002. and from Oxford, Khan is known for a career in Hussain has been based in London since January 1992, international cricket, eventually becoming the captain of and has never returned to Pakistan. Nevertheless, he the national team, and leading Pakistan to its only Cricket retains strong control of his party, and directs all its op- World Cup win in 1992. After retirement from his sport- erations from his base in the UK. ing career, he turned to politics, and established PTI in 1997. Although initially supporting General Musharraf’s military coup in 1999, he became a strong critic of the administration, and was put under in 2007 after Musharraf declared a in Paki- stan. In the elections of 2002, PTI had one seat in the National Assembly. The party did not contest the 2008 polls on the grounds that polls held under the overview of General Musharraf’s government would not be fair. Post 2008, the party’s popularity has gained momentum, with Khan leading the criticism of the current government’s performance.

Khan is also an active philanthropist, having established politicalBiographies main Pakistan of of leaders the first ever Cancer Hospital in Pakistan in 1994. He is also the Chancellor of the University of Bradford, and has established a college off in his hometown of .

ALTAF HUSSAIN Leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain was born in a lower-middle-income house- hold in in 1953. His parents had migrated from

the Indian city of Agra to Karachi upon partition of the www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum sub-continent, and were thus part of the Mohajir or “mi- Imran Khan, Movement for Justice grant” community. Hussain became prominent in student politics from a relatively young age. He formed the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organization (APMSO) in Kara- chi University in 1978. Hussain then formed the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) in 1984, which claimed to be the only political party speaking for the rights of the Mo- hajir community, centered mainly in ’s cities of Karachi and Hyderabad. The MQM fought the gen- eral elections of 1988 and emerged as the third largest party in the National Assembly. Since then, the party has consistently swept both national and provincial assembly polls in Karachi, and also showed a substantial presence in Hyderabad. The MQM became the victim of factional infighting in the mid 1990s, after Altaf Hussain announced that the party would no longer represent the Mohajirs alone, but would work on a national platform, and would henceforth be known as the Muttahida (or United) Qaumi Movement. The two main factions of the party (known as the Mut- tahida group and the Haqiqi (or Real) group respectively) fought a vicious turf war in Karachi, and several lead-

ers and workers of both factions were killed and injured. www.paklinks.com In December 1991, Hussain escaped an assassination Altaf Hussain, Muttahida Qaumi Movement

3 Pakistan: Country Profile Country Pakistan: www.facebook.com/ANPMarkaz www.facebook.com/SyedMunawarHasan , Syed Munawar Hasan, Jemaah Islamiya

ASFANDYAR WALI KHAN President, Awami National Party (ANP) Asfandyar Wali Khan belongs to a prominent political fam- ily of . His grandfather, Khan , was a member of the Congress Party in undivided India, and founded the non-violent Pashtun po- litical movement, ("Servants of God") in emulation of . Asfandyar Wali stayed away from politics for much of his youth, as his father, , remained a leader of the ANP and a prominent opposition leader. He was first elected to the National Assembly in 1993, and became President of his party in 1999. He was defeated in the elections of 2002, but returned to Parliament as a Senator in 2003. He gave up his seat in the Senate when he was once again elected to the National Assembly in 2008. He has been at the vanguard of the political struggle of the Pakhtuns against the in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and his party has lost many people to ter- rorist attacks. The International Institute for Strategic Studies Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Jamiat e Ulema e SYED MUNAWAR HASAN Ameer (Leader) of the Jamaat e Islami (JI) Syed Munawar Hasan was born in in 1944, and MAULANA FAZLUR RAHMAN later settled in Karachi when his family moved to Pakistan Leader of the Jamiat e Ulema e Islam (JUI) after partition. He became active in student politics in Maulana Fazlur Rahman succeeded his father, Mufti Mah- Karachi University in the early 1960s, but was initially a mud as leader of the JUI. Mufti Mahmud had earlier been member of the left-wing National Students . He a Chief Minister of the then Frontier province in the early joined the Islami Jamiat e Tulaba or the student wing of 1970s, and was prominent for his opposition to the first the Jamaat e Islami in 1964, and later joined the Jamaat PPP government. Maulana Fazlur Rahman has been elected in 1967. He worked as a journalist and a researcher in to parliament in two of the last four elections, and was the Karachi, and steadily rose through the ranks of the party. Leader of the Opposition from 2004 to 2007. His party was He was elected as Ameer of the Jamaat in March 2009, known for its strong support to the Taliban government in CIDOB International Yearbook 2012 Yearbook CIDOB International and is serving a five-year term. in the 1990s.

4 POLITICAL LEADERS SINCE INDEPENDENCE IN 1947

MUHAMMAD IQBAL Leader of the Muslim League and ideological founder of Pakistan (1926-1938) Sir Iqbal, commonly referred to as Allama Iqbal (Urdu: “Scholar”), was born in 1877 and became one of the most famous Urdu/Persian poets and philoso- phers of the sub-continent in addition to being a promi- nent leader of the Muslim League. Iqbal is credited with first floating the idea of the formation of a Muslim major- ity “state” (albeit within the dominion of India) in North- west India. This suggestion was made in his presidential address in the 1930 session of the Muslim League. Iqbal passed away in 1938, nine years before the creation of Pakistan, although he is widely commemorated as the ideological founder of the country.

www.wikipedia.org Governor-General of Pakistan (1947-1948) Muhammad Ali Jinnah, also known as Quaid-e-Azam (Urdu: "Great Leader"), born in 1876, was the most

prominent of the leaders of the All India Muslim League, politicalBiographies main Pakistan of of leaders and is known as the founder of Pakistan. Originally from the state of Gujrat, Jinnah launched his career in India as a , having been called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn. He soon joined politics, and from 1913 until Paki- stan’s independence in 1947, he was a leading member of the League. He was elected as permanent president of the party in 1934. Upon the creation of Pakistan in , he became the first Governor-General of the country and remained in this position until his death on September 11, 1948. Jinnah initially rose to prominence in the , and later helped shape the 1916 Pact1 between the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress. He

www.facebook.com/pages/Baba-e-QAUM also proposed a fourteen-point constitutional reform Muhammad Ali Jinnah plan to safeguard the political rights of in a self-governing India. Jinnah was a strong advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity until 1928, when the publication of the con- vinced him that the Congress party would be reluctant to agree to special concessions ensuring Muslim represen- tation in any proposed central government for India. Jin- nah later advocated the two-nation theory embracing the goal of creating a separate Muslim state. The League won most reserved Muslim seats in the elections of 1946. As the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League failed to reach a power sharing formula for united India, it prompted both the parties and the British to agree to the division of India into two autonomous states, Pakistan and India. As the first Governor-General of Pakistan, Jin- nah led efforts to lay the foundations of the new state of Pakistan, frame national policies and rehabilitate millions of Muslim refugees who had migrated from India. Jinnah

Encyclopædia Britannica died aged 71 in September 1948, just over a year after Pakistan gained independence.

5 LIAQUAT ALI KHAN Prime minister of Pakistan (1947-1951) Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was also a leader of the Muslim League and became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan after independence in 1947. Prior to independence, he was also the Finance Minister of India in 1946. A staunch ally of Jin- nah, Liaquat supported him in his campaign for the creation of a separate state for Indian Muslims. His government was characterized by its tilt towards the US as opposed to India’s non-aligned status; and also by an attempted coup involving leftist intellectuals and army personnel. As the government struggled to control internal dissent within the League, as well

Pakistan: Country Profile Country Pakistan: as a vocal and strengthening opposition, it was forced to yield to the demands of some vested interests. An example of this was the passage of the in 1949, soon after Jinnah’s death, which highlighted the role of religion in

the business of the state. Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated www.na.gov.pk in 1951, and his murderer was also killed on the spot by police Muhammad officers. His murder remains unsolved.

MUHAMMAD AYUB KHAN President of Pakistan (1958-1969) Muhammad Ayub Khan was the Chief of Army , and lat- er, a self-appointed . He imposed in 1958, the first in Pakistan’s history, after dismissing the government of Iskander , the last Governor General and first President of Pakistan. General Ayub’s government was characterized by the introduction of a system of indirect elec- tions (which was known as the Basic Democracy) system, in which local government bodies elected members to provincial and the central legislature. Pakistan’s first regular war with India (i.e. a war in which the armies were involved as opposed to irregular forces) also took place during General Ayub’s rule, in 1965, and ended with a ceasefire brokered by the USSR. General Ayub’s later rule was characterised by widespread civil unrest, triggered not least by a weakening economy in the

latter part of the 1960s; and by increasing political turmoil in http://ameensanwal9.blogspot.com . General Ayub relinquished power in 1969, but Muhammad instead of holding elections, he handed over power to the then Chief of Army Staff, General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan.

MUHAMMAD YAHYA KHAN President of Pakistan (1969-1971) General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan Qizilbash, was ap- pointed Chief of Army Staff in 1966, and succeeded General Ayub Khan to become the third President of Pakistan in March 1969. General Yahya Khan remained President until Decem- ber 1971. He was forced to resign following Pakistan’s defeat in the war with India that month, which had been followed by the secession of East Pakistan. Prior to this, Khan had been commissioned in British and served during the Second World War. When in power, Khan took strong meas- ures to weaken his political rivals, and became known for initi- ating military action during the uprising in East Pakistan which lasted from March to . As his successor, Bhutto ordered the arrest of Khan, dishonouring him and plac-

ing him under house arrest. www.currentaffairs.com.pk

CIDOB International Yearbook 2012 Yearbook CIDOB International Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto

6 ZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTO GENERAL ZIA-UL-HAQ President of Pakistan (1971-1973) President of Pakistan (1978-1988) Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the fourth President of Pakistan General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, was the fourth Chief Mar- from 1971 to 1973, after which he became the ninth tial Law Administrator (CMLA) and the sixth President of Prime Minister of Pakistan, and the first elected Prime Pakistan. He took power in a coup in July 1977, and Minister, from 1973 to 1977. Bhutto was the founder remained President till his death in August 1988. Gen- of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the largest political eral Haq had been appointed Chief of Army Staff by Prime party in Pakistan, and served as its chairman until his Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1976, superseding several execution in 1979. The PPP had campaigned on a so- others. His rule was characterised by widespread po- cialist economic agenda, and the government embarked litical repression, particularly of leftist parties, and by on a program of economic transformation that included the imposition of Islamic law, Islamic banking practices, widespread nationalization of large-scale manufacturing and an increasing trend of in society, which industries, educational institutions, banks and later, even was particularly apparent in the (state-controlled) media. some small and medium enterprises like cotton ginning General Zia-ul-Haq was derided by the international com- plants. These measures were highly unpopular with the munity after the execution of Bhutto, but his support for business community, and may have engendered large- the after the Soviet invasion of 1979 scale corruption in the public sector. The regime was effectively cast him in a positive light in the West. In also characterised by the use of strong-arm tactics spite of an outpouring of aid to Pakistan during his rule, against the opposition, in particular the dismissal of two and the revival of the economy, his repressive policies provincial governments in the provinces of NWFP and made him increasingly unpopular, and he was forced to Balochistan respectively. In the case of Balochistan, this hold elections (albeit party-less ones) in 1985. After the dismissal was followed by the start of a long-running in- polls, he continued as President, but appointed a civilian surgency, which lasted to the end of the Bhutto regime. Prime Minister, Mohammad Khan Junejo. Differences

Nevertheless, Bhutto’s period in power was also marked with the civilian government on the issue of facilitating politicalBiographies main Pakistan of of leaders by the passage of the 1973 Constitution, and important a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan caused him to dis- labour and social welfare legislation. miss Junejo’s government in 1988, after which he was In 1977, the PPP won the parliamentary elections, but forced to call another general election. He died, along widespread vote rigging was alleged by opposition par- with key army personnel and the then US ambassador ties. Negotiations between the government and the op- to Pakistan, in a mysterious aeroplane crash in August position were ongoing when the army staged a coup led by 1988. His demise paved the way for party-based polls in the Chief of Army Staff, General Zia-ul-Haq, who removed Pakistan for the first time since 1977 the Prime Minister and later also instituted criminal pro- ceedings against him. In 1979, Bhutto was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court for authorizing the murder of a political opponent, and was executed. www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk/ http://commons.wikimedia.org General Zia-Ul-Haq Benazir Bhutto

7 BENAZIR BHUTTO Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988-1990 and 1993- 1996) Benazir Bhutto became the co-Chairman of the PPP fol- lowing her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s execution in April 1979. Following long periods of incarceration and exile, she was elected Prime Minister in the elections of 1988. She served two non-consecutive terms; from 1988 until 1990, and from 1993 until 1996. On both occasions, her government was dismissed by the then President(s) on charges of corruption. She remained in exile after the dismissal of her second government, and her husband,

Pakistan: Country Profile Country Pakistan: Asif Ali Zardari, was jailed on corruption charges. In 2007, President Musharraf granted Bhutto amnesty, and all corruption charges were dropped, resulting in her return to Pakistan after almost a decade. She was cam- paigning for the 2008 elections when she was assassinat- ed in a suicide bombing on the 27th of December 2007, afte leaving a political rally in the city of .

Complete version of the Biography of Benazir Bhutto at CIDOB’s website: http://www.cidob.org/es/ documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/(filtro)/ pais/(pais)/1133 www.facebook.com/Lion.Of.PAKISTAN/ Mian Mohammed MIAN MOHAMMED NAWAZ SHARIF Prime Minister of Pakistan (1990-1993 and 1997- 1999) PERVEZ MUSHARRAF Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif served as the twelfth President of Pakistan (2001-2008) Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms General Pervez Musharraf, served as Pakistan’s thir- from 1990 to 1993 and then from 1997 to 1999. He is teenth Chief of Army Staff and tenth President. Mushar- the President of the -N, a Centre- raf led a military government from 1999 to 2007, initially right party. ruling as Chief Executive and then as President. When Sharif first came to prominence during the rule of General threatened with , he resigned in 2008. Zia-ul-Haq, and served as the Chief Minister of Punjab In 1998, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Mushar- for five years in the 1980s. From 1993 until 1996, he raf as the Chief of Army Staff. Musharraf’s past experi- served as the Leader of the Opposition. During Sharif’s ences included playing a vital role in the peace process second term, he notably ordered Pakistan's first nuclear during the Afghan civil war and spearheading the interna- tests in response to India's nuclear tests in May 1998. tionally condemned Kargil operation, which derailed rela- Sharif’s second term was also characterised by the Kargil tions with India. Musharraf obtained power by way of a war when Pakistani forces occupied strategic border coup d’état in October 1999, in response to an attempt posts in Indian Administered . This conflict came by Nawaz Sharif to remove him from the post of Chief of to an end only when Sharif appealed to the US President Army Staff. After the September 2001 terrorist attacks to intervene with India and help negotiate a withdrawal by in the US, Pakistan, amid controversy, became a frontline Pakistani personnel. In the midst of the resulting tension state in the war against terror and a key ally of the US. with the army, he appointed a new Chief of Army Staff Three years into power, Musharraf had himself elected while the existing Chief, General Pervez Musharraf, was President following a referendum, and then organized on a foreign tour. The army staged a coup in response elections in October 2002, in which his favoured party, to this, and Sharif was initially served criminal charges, the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid group) came to power and then exiled to Saudi Arabia. He returned to Pakistan as head of a ruling coalition. in late 2007, and although he was not allowed to contest Pakistan’s economy did exceptionally well for some years the 2008 elections, he remains the leader of the PML under Musharraf’s rule (notably from 2003 to 2006). (N), the largest opposition party. However fuel and food price inflation began to erode CIDOB International Yearbook 2012 Yearbook CIDOB International

8 Notes

1. An agreement between the Muslim League and Indian National Congress to place pressure on the British govern- ment to cede more home rule powers to India.

2. The Lal Masjid siege was a confrontation in July 2007 between the Islamic fundamentalist militants, based out of the Red Mosque of the capital , and the Pervez Musharraf administration. Biographies of main politicalBiographies main Pakistan of of leaders www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum Pervez Musharraf

these gains by late 2007. In addition, Musharraf’s at- tempted suspension of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court initiated civil unrest against him, and his handling of the the Lal Masjid2 siege caused a rise in terrorist at- tacks. He imposed emergency rule in November 2007, but later relented, resigned as Chief of Army Staff, and promised to oversee free and fair elections. He remained President for six months following the elections of Febru- ary 2008, but resigned in August 2008 when threatened with impeachment. In February 2011, a Pakistani court issued an arrest warrant for him because of his alleged involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. He is currently in exile.

Complete version of the Biography of Pervez Musharraf at CIDOB’s website: http://www.cidob.org/es/ documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/(filtro)/ pais/(pais)/1133

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