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Pakistan
President Ghulam Ishaq Khan as Power Broker
A powerful player in the political equation was President Ishaq
Khan. The president, under the constitution, is elected by a majority
of the members of the national and provincial assemblies. Ishaq
Khan was a seasoned senior bureaucrat-turned politician who had
been a key figure in Pakistan for more than three decades. Born
in 1915 in the North-West Frontier Province, 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 (see Zia ul-Haq
and Military Domination, 1977-88 , ch. 1). Among other things,
he supported the Zia government's efforts to Islamize the economy
by changes in the fiscal and banking systems.
In 1985 Ishaq Khan was elected to the Senate and later became
chairman of the Senate. The death of Zia in 1988 thrust Ishaq
Khan to the center of the political stage. When the military decided
to use the constitution to handle the issue of succession, Ishaq
Khan, as chairman of the Senate and therefore next in the line
of succession, became acting president. He and the emergency council
he instituted decided to hold general elections and to allow political
parties to participate. Thus, the country was guided back to democracy,
Benazir became prime minister, and Ishaq Khan was subsequently
elected president by the national and provincial assemblies.
Ishaq Khan's position was considerably strengthened by the Eighth
Amendment to the constitution, introduced by President Zia, which
allows the president to dismiss the government and to override
the government's choice of army chief. When the previous army
chief died unexpectedly, President Ishaq Khan reportedly turned
down the government's choice and named General Abdul Waheed to
head the army. General Waheed, who is not known to have any political
ambitions, is from the same ethnic group as Ishaq Khan--the Pakhtuns
of the North-West Frontier Province (see Linguistic and Ethnic
Groups , ch. 2).
Intermittent and conflicting signals of rapprochement, realignment,
and behind-the-scenes alliances among the various political players
heightened the political tension in late 1992 and early 1993.
There was speculation that the opposition and the government might
join forces to muster a two-thirds majority in the parliament
to repeal the Eighth Amendment or even that they might field a
candidate against the president. However, it was also noticeable
that Benazir had stopped openly attacking the president, and some
observers considered that she might be playing for time, hoping
to use the differences between the president and the prime minister
to her own advantage. The army, however, always a key ingredient
in the mix, continued to support the president as well as the
continuation of the Eighth Amendment. Against this backdrop, Pakistan's
developing democracy continued to be tested by economic problems,
persistent violence, and corruption, as well as the power struggles
of its leaders.
Data as of April 1994
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