Ghulam Ishaq Khan: A Unifying Figure for Pakistan?

By Michael C. Dunn

When Pakistani President Zia Ul-Haq died in a mysterious aircraft explosion on August 17, a veteran civil servant little known outside Pakistan was catapulted into the post of acting president. In that capacity, Ghulam Ishaq Khan will preside over the November 16 elections, but already many are saying that the statesmanlike administrator, who has no ties to political parties but has links to every government since Pakistan's independence, and who is a member of a minority group, might be an ideal presidential choice to unify the country.

Zia's Death Highlights Time of Regional Upheaval

The removal of Zia from the scene has thrown Pakistan into a period of uncertainty at a time when the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan is creating a new regional balance and when Zia's critics, most notably Benazir Bhutto, whose father was executed during Zia's incumbency, are stepping up their efforts to challenge the non-party-based elections called by Zia. The military, which has ruled Pakistan for much of its independent history, is also in disarray, as many senior officers died aboard Zia's airplane.

In the midst of this complex and potentially explosive situation, the acting president is a man behind whom many groups have rallied, including, provisionally at least, Ms. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, in order to bring about a peaceful democratization. He also enjoys, at least for now, the support of the military. He has denied further ambitions, but some are beginning to see him as a unifying figure, who could even be elected president by the electoral college which will assemble after the November 16 parliamentary elections.

A President from a Regional Minority

Ishaq Khan held the ceremonial post of chairman of the Senate, a post which constitutionally takes over as acting president should the president die in office. Elderly (he is 73) and dignified, Ishaq Khan is a veteran bureaucrat and civil servant, not a political or military figure.

Ishaq Khan was born in 1915 in the Bannu region of what is now northwestern Pakistan and studied in the Islamic College in Peshawar and at Punjab University. He is a Pathan, which would make him a president from a regional minority. He entered regional government in his home district and held various posts from 1940 until the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. When Pakistan was created, he became home secretary in 1948. In the following years he held a wide variety of administrative positions. In 1966 he became deputy finance minister, and in 1970 a deputy prime minister. In 1971 he was chosen governor of the Central Bank of Pakistan, a post he held until 1975. He served under the late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (father of Benazir Bhutto) as secretary general for defense, and is said to continue to enjoy the confidence of the military because of his experience as a civilian administrator in the defense field and his knowledge of military affairs.

After Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was overthrown by General Zia in 1977, the new martial law administration turned to Ishaq Khan as adviser on traditional legal affairs. He assumed that and other responsibilities until he was chosen as Senate chairman in 1985, when Zia installed his new constitutional system.

Ishaq Khan is married and the father of a son and five daughters.

Michael C. Dunn is senior analyst at International Estimate, a Washington, DC, consultancy, and lecturer at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.