Mohmmad government as Minister of Housing and Public

Works. In 1988 changed political party and joined the Pa-

kistan Peoples Party (PPP), with whom he entered the gov-

ernment of Benazir Bhutto as federal minister of Tourism,

to spend a year later to reoccupy the portfolio of Housing

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

on charges of corruption, between 2001 and 2006. So far,

Gilani is the longest serving Prime Minister of Pakistan, with

45 months in power. The challenges facing Gilani are ending

Islamist terrorism and tribal insurgency.

Complete version of the Biography of Yousaf Raza

Gilani at CIDOB’s website: http://www.cidob.org/es/

documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/(filtro)/

pais/(pais)/1133

1

INCUMBENT POLITICAL LEADERS

ASIF ALI ZARDARIPresident of Pakistan since 2008Asif Ali Zardari is the eleventh and current President of Pa-

kistan. He is the Co-Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party

(PPP), a role he took on following the demise of his wife,

Benazir Bhutto. Zardari rose to prominence in 1987 after

his marriage to Benazir Bhutto, holding cabinet positions in

both the 1990s 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 Pervez Musharraf and the

PPP, Zardari went into self-imposed exile in Dubai. He re-

turned in December 2007 following Bhutto’s assassination.

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-

head. He remains, however, a highly controversial figure

and continues to be dogged by allegations of corruption.

Complete version of the Biography of Asif Ali Zardari

at CIDOB’s website: http://www.cidob.org/es/

documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/(filtro)/

pais/(pais)/1133

YOUSAF RAZA GILANIPrime Minister of Pakistan since 2008Yousaf Raza Gilani is the current Prime Minister of Pakistan.

He was nominated as Prime Minister by the PPP, with the

support of its coalition partners in March 2008.

Gilani belongs to a family of politicians and Shiite religious

of the district of Multan, in Punjab province. Graduated in

journalism from the University of Punjab, in 1976 he began

his political career in the Pakistan Muslim League (PML).

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

Biographies of main political leaders of Pakistan

Asif Ali Zardari, President

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Minister of DefenceChaudhry 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

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

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 KHARMinister Foreign AffairsHina Rabbani Khar belongs to a prominent feudal family of

southern Punjab. Her uncle was the Governor 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 law 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 Lahore University of

Management Sciences and Amherst College in the US, to

fight the election in his stead. With minimal campaigning

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

Shaukat Aziz 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 Shah Mahmood

Qureshi, she was appointed Minister of State for Foreign

Affairs. She made an important official visit to India in

July 2011, and appeared to have set in motion a thawing

of relations, which had been cold since the Mumbai at-

tacks of November 2008.

Yousaf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister

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nattempt. Subsequently, a murder charge was registered

against him, but he left the country clandestinely, sur-

facing first in Saudi Arabia in January 1992, and then

arriving in London later the same month. He requested

political asylum from the Government of the UK and was

granted the same, eventually becoming a British citizen

in 2002.

Hussain has been based in London since January 1992,

and has never returned to Pakistan. Nevertheless, he

retains strong control of his party, and directs all its op-

erations from his base in the UK.

OTHER POLITICAL LEADERS

IMRAN KHANChairman of the Movement for Justice (PTI)Imran Khan is a former cricketer turned politician, and

the Chairman of the political party Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI)

(Urdu: “Movement for Justice”). With a degree in Politics

and Economics from Oxford, Khan is known for a career in

international cricket, eventually becoming the captain of

the national team, and leading Pakistan to its only Cricket

World Cup win in 1992. After retirement from his sport-

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

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 HUSSAINLeader 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-

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

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.

In December 1991, Hussain escaped an assassination

Imran Khan, Movement for Justice

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MAULANA FAZLUR RAHMANLeader of the Jamiat e Ulema e Islam (JUI) Maulana Fazlur Rahman succeeded his father, Mufti Mah-

mud as leader of the JUI. Mufti Mahmud had earlier been

a Chief Minister of the then Frontier province in the early

1970s, and was prominent for his opposition to the first

PPP government. Maulana Fazlur Rahman has been elected

to parliament in two of the last four elections, and was the

Leader of the Opposition from 2004 to 2007. His party was

known for its strong support to the Taliban government in

Afghanistan in the 1990s.

ASFANDYAR WALI KHANPresident, Awami National Party (ANP)Asfandyar Wali Khan belongs to a prominent political fam-

ily of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His grandfather, Khan Abdul

Ghaffar Khan, was a member of the Congress Party in

undivided India, and founded the non-violent Pashtun po-

litical movement, Khudai Khidmatgar ("Servants of God")

in emulation of Mahatma Gandhi.

Asfandyar Wali stayed away from politics for much of his

youth, as his father, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, 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 Taliban in Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa, and his party has lost many people to ter-

rorist attacks.

SYED MUNAWAR HASANAmeer (Leader) of the Jamaat e Islami (JI)Syed Munawar Hasan was born in Delhi in 1944, and

later settled in Karachi when his family moved to Pakistan

after partition. He became active in student politics in

Karachi University in the early 1960s, but was initially a

member of the left-wing National Students Federation. He

joined the Islami Jamiat e Tulaba or the student wing of

the Jamaat e Islami in 1964, and later joined the Jamaat

in 1967. He worked as a journalist and a researcher in

Karachi, and steadily rose through the ranks of the party.

He was elected as Ameer of the Jamaat in March 2009,

and is serving a five-year term.

Asfandyar Wali Khan, Awami National Party

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nPOLITICAL LEADERS SINCE INDEPENDENCE IN 1947

MUHAMMAD IQBALLeader 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

passed away in 1938, nine years before the creation of

Pakistan, although he is widely commemorated as the

ideological founder of the country.

MUHAMMAD ALI JINNAHGovernor-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,

and is known as the founder of Pakistan. Originally from

the state of Gujrat, Jinnah launched his career in India

as a lawyer, 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

August 1947, 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 Indian National Congress, and later

helped shape the 1916 Lucknow Pact1 between the

Muslim League and the Indian National Congress. He

also proposed a fourteen-point constitutional reform

plan to safeguard the political rights of Muslims in a

self-governing India.

Jinnah was a strong advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity until

1928, when the publication of the Nehru Report 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

died aged 71 in September 1948, just over a year after

Pakistan gained independence.

Muhammad Iqbal

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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

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 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

officers. His murder remains unsolved.

MUHAMMAD AYUB KHANPresident of Pakistan (1958-1969)Muhammad Ayub Khan was the Chief of Army Staff, and lat-

er, a self-appointed Field Marshal. He imposed martial law

in 1958, the first in Pakistan’s history, after dismissing the

government of Iskander Mirza, 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

East Pakistan. General Ayub relinquished power in 1969, but

instead of holding elections, he handed over power to the then

Chief of Army Staff, General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan.

MUHAMMAD YAHYA KHANPresident 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 Indian Army 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 December 1971. As his successor,

Bhutto ordered the arrest of Khan, dishonouring him and plac-

ing him under house arrest.

Muhammad Ayub Khan

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nZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTOPresident of Pakistan (1971-1973)Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the fourth President of Pakistan

from 1971 to 1973, after which he became the ninth

Prime Minister of Pakistan, and the first elected Prime

Minister, from 1973 to 1977. Bhutto was the founder

of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the largest political

party in Pakistan, and served as its chairman until his

execution in 1979. The PPP had campaigned on a so-

cialist economic agenda, and the government embarked

on a program of economic transformation that included

widespread nationalization of large-scale manufacturing

industries, educational institutions, banks and later, even

some small and medium enterprises like cotton ginning

plants. These measures were highly unpopular with the

business community, and may have engendered large-

scale corruption in the public sector. The regime was

also characterised by the use of strong-arm tactics

against the opposition, in particular the dismissal of two

provincial governments in the provinces of NWFP and

Balochistan respectively. In the case of Balochistan, this

dismissal was followed by the start of a long-running in-

surgency, which lasted to the end of the Bhutto regime.

Nevertheless, Bhutto’s period in power was also marked

by the passage of the 1973 Constitution, and important

labour and social welfare legislation.

In 1977, the PPP won the parliamentary elections, but

widespread vote rigging was alleged by opposition par-

ties. Negotiations between the government and the op-

position were ongoing when the army staged a coup led by

the Chief of Army Staff, General Zia-ul-Haq, who removed

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.

GENERAL ZIA-UL-HAQPresident of Pakistan (1978-1988)General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, was the fourth Chief Mar-

tial Law Administrator (CMLA) and the sixth President of

Pakistan. He took power in a coup in July 1977, and

remained President till his death in August 1988. Gen-

eral Haq had been appointed Chief of Army Staff by Prime

Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1976, superseding several

others. His rule was characterised by widespread po-

litical repression, particularly of leftist parties, and by

the imposition of Islamic law, Islamic banking practices,

and an increasing trend of conservatism in society, which

was particularly apparent in the (state-controlled) media.

General Zia-ul-Haq was derided by the international com-

munity after the execution of Bhutto, but his support for

the Afghan Mujahideen after the Soviet invasion of 1979

effectively cast him in a positive light in the West. In

spite of an outpouring of aid to Pakistan during his rule,

and the revival of the economy, his repressive policies

made him increasingly unpopular, and he was forced to

hold elections (albeit party-less ones) in 1985. After the

polls, he continued as President, but appointed a civilian

Prime Minister, Mohammad Khan Junejo. Differences

with the civilian government on the issue of facilitating

a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan caused him to dis-

miss Junejo’s government in 1988, after which he was

forced to call another general election. He died, along

with key army personnel and the then US ambassador

to Pakistan, in a mysterious aeroplane crash in August

1988. His demise paved the way for party-based polls in

Pakistan for the first time since 1977

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PERVEZ MUSHARRAFPresident of Pakistan (2001-2008)General Pervez Musharraf, served as Pakistan’s thir-

teenth Chief of Army Staff and tenth President. Mushar-

raf led a military government from 1999 to 2007, initially

ruling as Chief Executive and then as President. When

threatened with impeachment, he resigned in 2008.

In 1998, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Mushar-

raf as the Chief of Army Staff. Musharraf’s past experi-

ences included playing a vital role in the peace process

during the Afghan civil war and spearheading the interna-

tionally condemned Kargil operation, which derailed rela-

tions with India. Musharraf obtained power by way of a

coup d’état in October 1999, in response to an attempt

by Nawaz Sharif to remove him from the post of Chief of

Army Staff. After the September 2001 terrorist attacks

in the US, Pakistan, amid controversy, became a frontline

state in the war against terror and a key ally of the US.

Three years into power, Musharraf had himself elected

President following a referendum, and then organized

elections in October 2002, in which his favoured party,

the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid group) came to power

as head of a ruling coalition.

Pakistan’s economy did exceptionally well for some years

under Musharraf’s rule (notably from 2003 to 2006).

However fuel and food price inflation began to erode

BENAZIR BHUTTOPrime 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-

ed in a suicide bombing on the 27th of December 2007,

afte leaving a political rally in the city of Rawalpindi.

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

MIAN MOHAMMED NAWAZ SHARIFPrime Minister of Pakistan (1990-1993 and 1997-1999)Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif served as the twelfth

Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms

from 1990 to 1993 and then from 1997 to 1999. He is

the President of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, a Centre-

right party.

Sharif first came to prominence during the rule of General

Zia-ul-Haq, and served as the Chief Minister of Punjab

for five years in the 1980s. From 1993 until 1996, he

served as the Leader of the Opposition. During Sharif’s

second term, he notably ordered Pakistan's first nuclear

tests in response to India's nuclear tests in May 1998.

Sharif’s second term was also characterised by the Kargil

war when Pakistani forces occupied strategic border

posts in Indian Administered Kashmir. This conflict came

to an end only when Sharif appealed to the US President

to intervene with India and help negotiate a withdrawal by

Pakistani personnel. In the midst of the resulting tension

with the army, he appointed a new Chief of Army Staff

while the existing Chief, General Pervez Musharraf, was

on a foreign tour. The army staged a coup in response

to this, and Sharif was initially served criminal charges,

and then exiled to Saudi Arabia. He returned to Pakistan

in late 2007, and although he was not allowed to contest

the 2008 elections, he remains the leader of the PML

(N), the largest opposition party.

Mian Mohammed Nawaz Sharif

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nNotes

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 Islamabad, and the Pervez

Musharraf administration.

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

Pervez Musharraf

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