Ghulam Ishaq Khan

Infobox President
name = Ghulam Ishaq Khan
غلام اسحاق خان


office = President of Pakistan
term_start = 17 August 1988
term_end = 18 July 1993
ACting until 12 December 1988
primeminister = Benazir Bhutto
Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi
Nawaz Sharif
predecessor = Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
successor = Wasim Sajjad
order2 = Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan
president2 = Zia-ul-Haq
term_start2 = 1985
term_end2 = 1988
predecessor2 = Khan Habibullah Khan
successor2 = Wasim Sajjad
order3 = Finance Minister of Pakistan
term_start3 = 5 July 1977
term_end3 = 21 March 1985
predecessor3 = Abdul Hafiz Pirzada
successor3 = Mahbub ul Haq
party = Independent
religion = Islam
birth_date = birth date|1915|1|20|df=y
birth_place = Bannu, British India
death_date = death date and age|2006|10|27|1915|01|20|df=y
death_place = Peshawar, Pakistan

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

Early life

Khan was born on January 20, 1915 in a small village Ismail Khel in the suburbs of Bannu District located in the North-West Frontier Province into a Pashtun family. He was appointed to the prestigious Civil Service of Pakistan after independence in 1947. After holding various regional posts, including being chairman of the West Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (1961-66), he was appointed to several positions in the central government--first as secretary, Ministry of Finance (1966-70) and later as governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (1971-75). In the latter position, he questioned the wisdom of a number of the economic policies of then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. He was subsequently moved from the bank and made secretary general at the Ministry of Defence. Although an unusual post for a senior economics expert, it proved to be fortuitous in that it brought him into close contact with the senior officers of the armed forces. Among them was General Zia, who later ousted Bhutto and turned the management of the economy over to Ishaq Khan. During the martial law period (1977-85), Ishaq Khan's titles changed, but he was responsible for all important economic decisions. Among other things, he supported the Zia government's efforts to Islamize the economy by changes in the fiscal and banking systems.

President of Pakistan

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.

Currency crisis

During the early 1990s, Khan's administration failed to arrest the 30 per cent fall in the value of the Pakistani Rupee from 21 to 30 to the US Dollar.

Later life

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 contact with the media. He died on 27 October 2006 after a bout of pneumonia.

Trivia

"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.cite paper|author=Intikhab Amir|title=Ghulam Ishaq Khan passes away|url=http://www.dawn.com/2006/10/28/top1.htm|version=Dawn Newspaper, Pakistan|accessdate=2006-10-28]

"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."

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.

ee also

*Pakistan
*President of Pakistan
*Finance Minister of Pakistan

References

External links

* [http://www.storyofpakistan.com/person.asp?perid=P022 Ghulam Ishaq Khan Profile] Story of Pakistan
* [http://www.storyofpakistan.com/articletext.asp?artid=A079 Ghulam Ishaq Khan taking oath as the President of Pakistan]
* [http://countrystudies.us/pakistan/77.htm In depth history of Khan's presidency]
* [http://www.giki.edu.pk/ Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6090684.stm BBC News report of his death]
* [http://www.dawn.com/2006/10/28/top1.htm "Ghulam Ishaq Khan passes away" Report on the Dawn Newspaper website]

###@@@KEY@@@###Succession box
title = Finance Minister of Pakistan
years = 1977 – 1985
before = Abdul Hafiz Pirzada
after = Mahbub ul HaqSuccession box
title = Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan
years = 1985 – 1988
before = Khan Habibullah Khan
after = Wasim SajjadSuccession box
title = President of Pakistan
years = 1988 – 1993
before = Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
after = Wasim Sajjad
Acting

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