Ghulam Ishaq Khan

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Ghulam Ishaq Khan

In office
August 17, 1988 – July 18, 1993
Preceded by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
Succeeded by Wasim Sajjad

Born January 20, 1915
Bannu District
Died October 27, 2006
Peshawar
Religion Islam

Ghulam Ishaq Khan (abbreviated as GIK) (Urdu/[[[Pashto]]: غلام اسحاق خان) (January 20, 1915October 27, 2006) was President of Pakistan from August 17, 1988 until July 18, 1993.

Khan was born on January 20, 1915 in Bannu District of North-West Frontier Province to a Pashtun family. He completed his education in chemistry, and joined the Indian civil service prior to Pakistani independence. Upon independence, he was involved in irrigation projects in West Pakistan, and later went on to join the Finance Ministry, eventually becoming the Finance Minister.

In the 1985 elections, he won a Senate seat, shortly after which he was elected as Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan. Immediately after the death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1988, Khan became acting President in accordance with the Constitutional rules of succession, and was formally elected to the position in December of that year. He held the position of President until 1993.

Khan reportedly vetoed the appointment of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Hamid Gul as Army Chief, appointing the moderately reformist general Asif Nawaz Khan Janjua instead. Khan's presidency also saw the resignation of General Rahimuddin Khan from the post of Governor of Sindh, due to differences between the two after Khan started restricting Rahimuddin's vast amount of legislative power. Khan's presidency was also marked by his use of Eighth Amendment reserve powers to check the government. While the Prime Minister is the Head of Government, Khan was able to dismiss the governments of both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif on charges of corruption, mismanagement, and nepotism, thereby triggering new elections, which the incumbent parties lost. The second dismissal of government exacerbated institutional and political opposition to Khan, leading to his resignation in 1993. Despite coming to an arrangement with the PPP government to be re-elected to the presidency after the 1993 elections, he was eventually dropped as a candidate in favour of Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari.

He subsequently retired from politics and avoided contacts with the media. He died on the 27 of October 2006 after a bout of pneumonia.

"He would never hesitate to accept that he has served on minor posts as well before assuming key offices through sheer hard work," said his brother-in-law Shakatullah Khan.[1]

"Having remained close to former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, military dictator Ziaul Haq and serving as the president of Pakistan, he is considered to have played a pivotal role in implementing the country’s nuclear programme, prompting a US diplomat to call him Mr Nuke, his long-time associate and aide, Roedad Khan said."[1]

He has to his credit the establishment of Rs 2.2 billion Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology in Swabi, Topi, North-West Frontier Province.[1]

Personal website [1]


Preceded by
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
President of Pakistan
1988 - 1993
Succeeded by
Wasim Sajjad


[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Intikhab Amir. "Ghulam Ishaq Khan passes away". Dawn Newspaper, Pakistan. Retrieved on 2006-10-28.

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Ghulam Ishaq Khan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES GIK
SHORT DESCRIPTION Pakistani President from
DATE OF BIRTH January 20, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Bannu District
DATE OF DEATH October 27, 2006
PLACE OF DEATH Peshawar