Adil Najam
Former President of Pakistan, Sardar Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari died in the early hours of Wednesday at the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi. He was 70 and a heart patient for some time.
Like Ghulam Ishaq Khan before him (here and here), had the Presidency ‘thrust’ upon him by circumstance and political machinations of others; however, his use of Presidential powers while in office left a deep and lasting impact on Pakistan politics. Impacts that Pakistan is still reeling from.
A one time civil servant, schooled at Aitchison College, Forman Christian College, Punjab University and Oxford University, Mr. Leghari was a Baluch Sardar and reportedly a major land owner with 10 square kilometers of land ownership.
Once a PPP stalwart and close confidant of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, he would later turn against her and prove instrumental in her eventual fall from power. In fact, it was that closeness that elevated him to the Presidency in 1993 as he was considered loyal, dependable and reliable. In the end he proved to be anything but that for Ms. Bhutto and became a central actor in her removal from office as he removed his own party’s government under Article 58 2(b) on charges of corruption, lawlessness and extra judicial killings.
Here is a recent interview with Mr. Leghari:
Later he was himself forced to resign when Nawaz Sharif was Prime Minister. Later still he formed the Millat party, which eventually formed an alliance with PML-Q during Gen. Musharraf’s rule, during which his son Awais Leghari was a high profile Minister. Others from his close circle – including Mahmud Durrani and Sumaira Malik – were also key players in Gen. Musharraf’s government.
Leghari was not the only one who had negative impact on Pakistani politics and national development. Many leaders from Auyb Khan onwards, who had abosolute power to dissolve parliment, left some positive but more negative impact on Pakistan that Pakistanis are still suffering. Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Z.A Bhutto, Zia ul Haq, Ishaq Khan, Leghari, Musharraf all among such leaders. Historians will have a hell of a job to determine which one of these leaders had most negative impact. Current crop of political leaders, who may not have absolute power to dissolve parliment, do have their fair share of on going negative impact.
I wish he had resigned instead of succumbing to the establishment’s pressure to dismiss his party’s government.
He never looked comfortable in PML having spent the major part of his political career in PPP.
Let us not speak ill of the dead.
I really think he did what he did out of conviction not malice
Sad to hear this, even though I was never a fan of his.
He may not have been a bad man, but what he did led to so many bad things. Both he and Ghulam Ishaq Khan are as much to blame as any for the mess we are in.