Yousaf Raza Gillani

Gilani belongs to an influential political family from Multan. His father was a descendant of Syed Musa Pak, a spiritual figure of the Qadiri Sufi order which traces its origins to Abdul-Qadir Gilani of Gilan province of Iran. Gilani is married and has four sons, one daughter, Fiza Gaylani, and one grandson. ^[5] The eldest son of Yousaf Raza Gaylani, Syed Makhdoom Abdul Qadir Gilani who also started his political career from Multan, married the granddaughter of Pir Pagara, an influential political figure of Sindh, on March 25, 2008.

Political career

Gilani's political journey began during General Zia-ul-Haq's martial law in 1978. He joined the Central Working Committee of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML). He was also a cabinet member in the three-year government of Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo, and served as Minister of Housing and Works from April 1985 to January 1986 and as Railways Minister from January 1986 to December 1986.

After a short stint with the Muslim League, Gilani joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in 1988. In the Benazir Bhutto government of 1988-1990, he was Minister of Tourism from March 1989 to January 1990 and Minister of Housing and Works from January 1990 to August 1990. In the Bhutto government of 1993-1996, he was Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan until February 1997.

Imprisonment

Yousaf Raza Gilani was arrested on February 11, 2001 under the auspices of National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the government's anti-corruption agency set up by the military government in 1999, over charges of the misuse of his authority while he was Speaker of the National Assembly. Specifically, he was accused of hiring up to 600 people from his constituency on government payroll.^[7] NAB claimed that Gilani inflicted a loss of Rs 30 million annually on the national exchequer.^[8] He was convicted by an anti-corruption court formed by President Pervez Musharraf and spent nearly six years in prison.^[9]

The legal proceedings were perceived by many as politically motivated -- his party, the PPP, was in opposition to President Musharraf, who had embarked on a campaign to coerce party members to switch sides. Thus his conviction by Musharraf backed courts and subsequent prison sentence is seen as a mark of loyalty within the PPP. His imprisonment was widely condemned by various people across the country including Syed Mushahid Hussain who is a senior leader of PML-Q.^{citation needed} He was finally released on October 7, 2006 from Adiala Jail, after spending more than five years in prison. He subsequently denied that the release was part of any deal between PPP and the military government, as the original sentence ran for 10-year imprisonment.^[10]

Premiership

On March 22, 2008, the PPP nominated Gilani for the post of Prime Minister. PPP completed consultations with coalition partners about the Prime Minister and the allies endorsed the nomination. The formal announcement of the name of Prime Minister was expected to be made that night.

On March 22 at 9:38 pm Islamabad, (1638 GMT), he was officially announced by PPP as its candidate for the premiership of the country. There is widespread speculation that he will be a "stand-in" for Asif Ali Zardari, widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Zardari does not hold a seat in Parliament and must win a by-election before it would be possible for him to become Prime Minister.^[11]

The question now is how long Gilani will remain Prime Minister. Many analysts said that they would not be surprised if Zardari takes over the reins in a few months. It was reported on March 24, 2008, that Zardari said he is not interested in the job of Prime Minister and that Gilani will serve until 2013 in the position. Speculation that Zardari may be gunning for the premiership grew stronger when he picked the less popular Gilani over Makhdoom Amin Fahim, president of the PPP. Fahmida Mirza, the newly-elected speaker of the assembly, insists there is no plan to replace Gilani. She added, however, that if Gilani did not do a good job, all options are open.^[12]

On March 24, 2008, Gilani was elected as Prime Minister by Parliament, defeating his rival, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi of the PML-Q, by a score of 264 to 42.^[13] He was sworn in by Musharraf on the next day.^[3] On March 29, he won a unanimous vote of confidence in Parliament.^[14]

On the same day, following the vote of confidence, Gillani announced the programme for the first 100 days of his administration. Some of the points he announced were:

On May 13, 2008, the PML (N) ministers resigned from Gillani's government due to a disagreement related to the reinstatement of judges who were removed from office by Musharraf in 2007. Zardari, hoping to preserve the coalition, told Gillani to reject the resignations.^[17]

First public speech as Prime Minister

On July 19 at 11:06pm (Pakistan Standard Time), Gillani appeared on Pakistan Television (PTV) in his first address to the nation. The main points in his address were focused on the crisis of flour shortage, load-shedding, terrorism and extremism, restoration of judges, economic down slide and, above all, the inflation and unemployment in the country.

Contents

Family and education

Political career

Imprisonment

Premiership

First public speech as Prime Minister

See also

References

External links