Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao

Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao (Urdu: آفتاب احمد خان شیرپاو; born 20 August 1944) is a Pakistani politician who is the current chairman of the centre-left Pashtun nationalist Qaumi Watan Party, after previously being a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party. He was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from November 2002 to May 2018.

Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao
آفتاب احمد خان شیرپاو
Chairman of Qaumi Watan Party
Assumed office
17 October 2012
Minister of Interior
In office
25 August 2004  15 November 2007
Prime MinisterShaukat Aziz
Preceded byFaisal Saleh Hayat
Succeeded byHamid Nawaz Khan (caretaker)
Minister for Water and Power
In office
2002–2004
Prime MinisterZafarullah Khan Jamali
Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
In office
24 April 1994  12 November 1996
PresidentFarooq Leghari
Prime MinisterBenazir Bhutto
GovernorMaj.Gen. Khurshid Ali Khan
Lt.Gen. Arif Bangash
Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
In office
18 November 2002  31 May 2018
ConstituencyNA-8 (Charsadda-II)
Personal details
Born (1944-08-20) 20 August 1944[1]
Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province, British India
NationalityPakistani
Political partyQaumi Watan Party
RelationsHayat Muhammad Khan Sherpao (brother)
EducationEdwardes College Peshawar
Alma materLawrence College, Murree
Edwardes College
Pakistan Military Academy
Military service
AllegiancePakistan
Branch/service Pakistan Army
Years of service1965–1977
Rank Major
UnitProbyns Horse Regiment-Armoured Corps
Battles/warsIndo-Pakistani War of 1965
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Sherpao previously served as the Federal Interior Minister of Pakistan. Prior to this assignment he was the Federal Minister for Water and Power, Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas and States & Frontier Regions and Minister for Interprovincial Coordination. Sherpao has also served as the 14th and 18th Chief Minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Early life and education

Aftab Khan Sherpao was born on 20 August 1944.[1][2]

Sherpao received his early from Lawrence College Murree,[3][4] and Edwardes College, Peshawar.[5]

He joined Pakistan Military Academy[5] with 34th Long Course in 1964.[3] After passing out from Pakistan Military Academy in 1965, he joined Pakistan Army where he remained in the service for 12 years[6] during which he rose to the rank of Major.[7] While in military, he took part in Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[7]

He is brother of Hayat Sherpao.[5]

Political career

Sherpao started his political career with Pakistan Peoples Party in 1975 after taking retirement from Pakistan Army on the advice of then Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto after his elder brother Hayat Sherpao was assassinated in a bomb blast in Peshawar.[7]

He was elected to National Assembly of Pakistan for the first time in 1977 Pakistani general election on Pakistan Peoples Party seat.[8][9] from NA-3.

He boycotted 1985 Pakistani general election.[9]

He was re-elected to the National Assembly in 1988 Pakistani general election.[9]

He was elected as the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 1988[8] and remained in the office from 2 December 1988 till 8 August 1990.[10]

He became the Leader of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following 1990 Pakistani general election.[9]

He was re-elected as the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 1994 following 1993 Pakistani general election, in which he defeated Afzal Khamosh of the Mazdoor Kisan Party by a narrow margin of 54 votes.[8][6][11]

He remained Leader of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 1993 to 1997.[6][12]

He was re-elected to the National Assembly in 1997 Pakistani general election.[9]

He remained senior Vice-Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party from 1997 to 1999[6] and leader of Pakistan Peoples Party in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 1997 to 1999.[6][12]

In 1999, he developed differences with Benazir Bhutto.[7][8] It was reported that differences between Sherpao and Benazir Bhutto were cropped after the defeat of PPP in 1997 Pakistani general election. Benazir Bhutto suspected that Sherpao played a role over the dismissal of her government. Sherpao denied the claims.[8]

After 1999 Pakistani coup d'état, he went into self-exile in the United Kingdom due to multiple corruption cases.[9] Upon return to Pakistan for 2002 Pakistani general election,[9] he was jailed on corruption charges.[8]

In 2002, he created his own faction, of Pakistan Peoples Party-Sherpao[8][13] and late 2002, was elected unopposed as the chairman of his own faction, Pakistan Peoples Party-Sherpao.[14]

He was re-elected to the National Assembly in Pakistani general election, 2002.[9] In November 2002, he was appointed as the Minister for Water and Power with the additional portfolio of Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination in the federal cabinet.[15] In December 2002, Sherpao was given additional charge of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas and State of Frontier Region.[16][17]

In 2004, he was appointed as Minister for Interior in the federal cabinet.[18][19]

After getting re-elected to the National Assembly in 2008 Pakistani general election from his home constituency, NA-8, Charsadda,[20][21] he formed Qaumi Watan Party.[9]

He was re-elected to the National Assembly in 2013 Pakistani general election.[22][23]

Assassinations attempts

In April 2007, he was injured in a suicide attack in Charsadda after a suicide bomber blew himself in a political rally which killed at least 22 people.[24] It was the first attack on him.[5]

In December 2007, second assassination attempt was made when a suicide bomb blast targeted Sherpao which killed at least 57 in a mosque in Charsadda.[25]

In April 2015, Sherpao was targeted in a suicide attack in Charsadda for the third time. Sherpao survived the attack.[5]


References

  1. "Detail Information". www.pildat.org. PILDAT. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. "If elections are held on time…". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  3. "Ghora gali". www.thenews.com.pk. 7 October 2010. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  4. "Lawrence College's 150 years celebrated". www.thenews.com.pk. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  5. "Aftab Sherpao survives three bids on his life in eight years". www.thenews.com.pk. 1 May 2015. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  6. "Returning to PPP out of question, says Sherpao". The Nation. 15 November 2016. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  7. "Sherpao, Muslim Raza decide to dismantle PPP; create a new party". www.thenews.com.pk. 6 September 2012. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  8. Khan, Ismail (17 April 2013). "The cunning campaigner". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  9. "Tracing the trajectory of Aftab Sherpao and the Qaumi Watan Party - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 1 April 2013. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  10. Report, Bureau (20 October 2002). "Religious parties to rule NWFP a second time". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  11. "Leadership – PMPK".
  12. "National govt no solution to problems: Sherpao". The Nation. 14 July 2015. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  13. "PPP (S) polls". DAWN.COM. 30 July 2002. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  14. Report, Bureau (3 August 2002). "PESHAWAR: Sherpao elected PPP(S) chairman". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  15. "Jamali, cabinet take oath: PPP, PML-N abstain from ceremony". DAWN.COM. 24 November 2002. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  16. "Rs1m okayed for seepage control". DAWN.COM. 25 January 2003. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  17. "Portfolios allocated to 7 state ministers". DAWN.COM. 5 December 2002. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  18. "Changes in important ministries: Aziz keeps finance". DAWN.COM. 3 September 2004. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  19. "SC moved against Sherpao's bail: New City housing scheme case". DAWN.COM. 21 September 2004. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  20. Khan, Faiz Muhammad (22 April 2013). "Voter maturity in Charsadda". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  21. Report, Bureau (20 February 2008). "ANP, PPP dominate in NWFP Assembly". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  22. Khan, Ismail (12 May 2013). "PTI's surprise victory in KP". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  23. Wasim, Amir (23 May 2013). "119 of 256 elected to NA are first timers". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  24. "Bomb kills 22 at Pakistani rally". news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  25. "Pakistan suicide blast 'kills 50'". news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
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