Humayun Akhtar Khan

Humayun Akhtar Khan (born April 1 1955) is a Pakistani politician. He served as the Federal Minister for Trade and Commerce from 2002-2007 and as the State Minister for Investments from 1997-1999. He is also the Senior Vice-President of the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q). His father General Akhtar Abdur Rahman was the Chairman of the Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Akhtar was earlier the Director General of the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence, where he played a key role in establishing the Mujahideen who later forced the Soviets out of Afghanistan in the 1980s. His brothers are some of the biggest industrialists in Pakistan and collectively own Riaz Bottlers Ltd., Tandniawala Sugar Mills, and Superior Textile Mills. Humayun is married and has three children.

Education

After completing his secondary education at Burnhall School, Humayun attended the University of Waterloo in Canada and earned a Bachelors degree in Business Mathematics from there. He later went on to graduate from the University of Manitoba and became a Masters in Actuarial Sciences. He has been a fellow of the U.S. Society of Actuaries since 1980 and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries since 1981.

Professional career

For many years, Humayun and his brothers worked in Canada and the United States. His brother Akbar had a masters degree in Business Administration, his younger brother Haroon was an Actuary , and his youngest brother Ghazi worked in a Chartered Accountancy firm in Canada. Humayun was also in Canada and worked for the Morneau Sobeca Income Fund Company as an Actuary. On August 17, 1988, their father General Akhtar Abdur Rehman passed away in a mysterious plane crash which also killed President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and the US Ambassador to Pakistan. After the tragic loss of their father, the brothers decided to return to Pakistan to start their business career and carry their fathers name via politics. Humayun chose to enter politics while his brothers would use their experience in foreign jobs to manage businesses. On their return, the brothers bought out the Lahore franchise of Pepsi Cola Ltd. They have taken it from bankruptcy to an exemplary business which has now become the stand-out Pepsi franchise in all of Pakistan.

Politics

1990-1993

In 1990, entered politics and contested his first election. Since his father was a close aide of General Zia-ul-Haq, Humayun joined the pro Zia Pakistan Muslim League led by Nawaz Sharif. He was given a ticket for constituency NA-92 in Lahore and his opponent was the Secretary General of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). However, Humayun had the sympathy of the voters who remembered his father as a hero for his role in the Afghan Jihad and won by a margin of 15,000 votes. For three years he served as an MNA but when Nawaz Sharif resigned along with President Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1993, assemblies were dissolved new elections were scheduled.

1993-1996

In November 1993, the new President Farooq Leghari called for fresh elections. Humayun was once again issued a ticket from Lahore but this time, it was from constituency NA-93 where his opponent was the strong Peoples Party candidate Aitzaz Ahsan. NA-93 had always been Peoples Parties stronghold as its pioneer Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had won from there and this was to be Humayun’s toughest test to date. However, despite the fact that Peoples Party won the elections and Aitzaz Ahsan was a strong candidate, by now Humayun had a big name in Lahore and campaigned brilliantly to end up winning the election in what was a very close contest. His brother Haroon Akhtar Khan also contested the election that same year and defeated Qasim Zia for the Provincial seat. Both brothers were part of the opposition party PML and so did not get any ministry. In 1996, President Farooq Leghari dissolved Benazir Bhutto's government on charges of corruption.

1997-1999

In 1997, new elections were called for again. Since neither Humayun nor his brother Haroon were given Pakistan Muslim League tickets to contest in the elections, they decided to run as independents. A few months later, they were promised tickets and so, they rejoined the Pakistan Muslim League. However, Nawaz Sharif did not give Haroon a ticket and gave Humayun a ticket in the remote district of Rahimyar Khan where he was an outsider. Despite that, he still managed to win and was then made the State Minister for Investments in a cabinet headed by Nawaz Sharif. On October 12, 1999, Nawaz Sharif’s government was dissolved when General Pervez Musharraf took the reigns in a military coup.

2002-2004

In 2002, General Musharraf who by then had also become the President of Pakistan said that there would be elections in October. A new faction of the Pakistan Muslim League was formed called PML-Q and many prominent members of Nawaz Sharif’s party including the Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Mian Mohammad Azhar, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq, Humayun Akhtar and his brother Haroon Akhtar decided to join the breakaway faction. The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) was also reffered to as the “Kings Party” as it supported Musharraf and his policies. This time, both Humayun and his brother Haroon were given tickets to run from Lahore. Humayun chose constituency NA-125 which was in fact part of what was once called NA-93. However, this time his main opponent was Akram Zaki from Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) as his previous opponent from this area was now contesting from NA-124. Humayun had returned to the constituency where he won from nine years ago and it seemed as if he would win with a clean sweep but the contest was very close and in the end Humayun won his fourth consecutive election but this time by a narrow margin. However, his political rivals were eager to tarnish his name in Lahore as they saw him as a threat to their power in Punjab and spread a rumor that the election was rigged. His opponent Akram Zaki claimed victory and took the result to the high courts but it was later proven after that Humayun had won fair and square. He was later sworn in as the Federal Minister for Trade and Commerce as his Party PML-Q formed a coalition government with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in a cabinet led by Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali.

Prime Ministerial candidate

By early 2004, it was evident that Jamali who was then the Prime Minister had fallen out of favor with President Musharraf and his own party members. Jamali did not support Musharraf’s decision to keep on his uniform while Musharraf was sick of his incompetence and poor governance. When Jamali ran for secretary general of Pakistan Muslim League, his nomination was blocked and that led to differences between Jamali and PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. By May 2004, the had party decided to sack Jamali and in his place two candidates were nominated: Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar who was an elected member of the National Assembly and Finance Minister who was a selected member of the senate. Since Shaukat Aziz was not been directly elected, Humayun was the first choice to the throne. It was expected that Jamali would resign on June 5th and Humayun would step into the coveted job but at the last moment, Chaudhry Shujaat convinced Musharraf to postpone Jamali’s resignation till the budget debate was over. Many political analysts believe the main purpose of the delay was to postpone Humayun’s candidacy. Three weeks later, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was made Prime Minister for two months and it was decided that Shaukat Aziz would contest an election for the national assembly via by-election. If he won, he would be sworn in as Prime Minister in August 2004.

2004-2007

After the new Prime Minister was chosen and Humayun was denied his moment of glory, he resumed his duty as the Commerce Minister. During his tenure as Commerce Minister, he undertook policies which would turn Pakistan into a dynamic world economy. He actively participated in the World Trade Organization negotiations, where he was selected as a facilitator for the Hong Kong ministerial conference held in December 2005. He also introduced reforms in the insurance sector and enacted copyright laws in 2007. Recently he helped establish the Lahore Agenda for Farmer's rights to global markets in the 31st meeting of Cairns Group. During his five year tenure as the Commerce Minister, Pakistan's exports increased from $8 billion to $20 billion. Never before has the nation witnessed such unprecedented growth in the economic sector. In November 2007, he successfully completed his term as the Federal Minister for Trade and Commerce.

2008 elections

When the government successfully completed its five-year term, President Musharraf shed his military uniform and called for general elections. The elections were scheduled for January 8th but after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, they were postponed to February 18th. Prior to Benazir's death, people were expecting a close race between the PML-Q, PML-N, and the PPP but once she was killed, her husband Asif Ali Zardari blamed the PML-Q for conspiring Benazir's death. It was very strange that soon after the blast that killed Benazir Bhutto, the crime scene was ordered to be washed, thus destroying all evidence. This greatly hampered the PML-Q's campaign and on top of that, they were also responsible for the recent price hike and loadshedding in the country. The PML-Q was also accused of unconditionally supporting Musharraf's infamous policies and so on the election day, the party president and 23 out of the 27 members of the federal cabinet including Humayun Akhtar lost from their respective constituencies.