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Annex Biographies Political Leaders Pakistan PDF
Annex Biographies Political Leaders Pakistan PDF
www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk
In 2008, as Co-Chairman of PPP he led his party to victory
in the general 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 Justice 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
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 prison
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 terrorism 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 Multan, 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 Muslim League (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 Khan Junejo
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Pakistan: Country Profile
www.pakistan.gov.pk
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
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.
www.mod.gov.pk
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 Lahore University of
Management Sciences and Amherst College in the US, to
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
CIDOB International Yearbook 2012
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Biographies of main political leaders of Pakistan
OTHER POLITICAL LEADERS attempt. Subsequently, a murder charge was registered
against him, but he left the country clandestinely, sur-
IMRAN KHAN facing first in Saudi Arabia in January 1992, and then
Chairman of the Movement for Justice (PTI) arriving in London 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
(Urdu: “Movement for Justice”). With a degree in Politics in 2002.
and Economics 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 house arrest in 2007
after Musharraf declared a state of emergency 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
www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum
performance.
Khan is also an active philanthropist, having established
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 Mianwali.
ALTAF HUSSAIN
Leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)
Altaf Hussain was born in a lower-middle-income house-
hold in Karachi in 1953. His parents had migrated from
the Indian city of Agra to Karachi upon partition of the
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 Sindh’s major 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
www.paklinks.com
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Pakistan: Country Profile
www.facebook.com/SyedMunawarHasan
www.facebook.com/ANPMarkaz
Asfandyar Wali Khan, Awami National Party Syed Munawar Hasan, Jemaah Islamiya
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Biographies of main political leaders of Pakistan
POLITICAL LEADERS SINCE INDEPENDENCE IN
1947
MUHAMMAD IQBAL
Leader of the Muslim League and ideological founder
of Pakistan (1926-1938)
Sir Muhammad 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
www.wikipedia.org
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Pakistan: Country Profile
www.na.gov.pk
to the demands of some vested interests. An example of this
was the passage of the Objectives Resolution in 1949, soon
after Jinnah’s death, which highlighted the role of religion in
the business of the state. Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated
in 1951, and his murderer was also killed on the spot by police Muhammad Ayub Khan
officers. His murder remains unsolved.
http://ameensanwal9.blogspot.com
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
East Pakistan. General Ayub relinquished power in 1969, but Muhammad Yahya Khan
instead of holding elections, he handed over power to the then
Chief of Army Staff, General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan.
CIDOB International Yearbook 2012
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Biographies of main political leaders of Pakistan
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 conservatism 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 Afghan Mujahideen 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
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.
http://commons.wikimedia.org
www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk/
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Pakistan: Country Profile
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,
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-
www.facebook.com/Lion.Of.PAKISTAN/
ed in a suicide bombing on the 27th of December 2007,
afte leaving a political rally in the city of Rawalpindi.
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 Kashmir. 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
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Biographies of main political leaders of Pakistan
Notes
www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum
Pervez Musharraf