Ghulam Ishaq Khan (abbreviated as GIK) (Pashto: غلام اسحاق خان, Urdu: غلام اسحاق خان; January 20, 1915 – October 27, 2006) was seventh President of Pakistan from August 17, 1988 until July 18, 1993.

Early life

Ghulam Ishaq Khan was born on January 20, 1915 in a small village Ismael Khel in the suburbs of Bannu District located in the North-West Frontier Province into a Pashtun family. He attended Peshawar University where he received his B.S. in chemistry, followed by his M.S. in chemistry. He was appointed to the prestigious Civil Service of Pakistan after independence in 1947.

Early Career

GIK began his career as a bursar in the historic Islamic College, Peshawar, where he had earlier studied and done his BSc in chemistry and botany. Looking after the accounts of Islamic College exposed him to the world of finance. This was to subsequently remain his life's passion.¹

Civil Service Career

1940, GIK qualified for the civil service examinations and his first posting was as extra-assistant commissioner in Haripur. For the next 15 years he held jobs in revenue and other departments mostly in his native NWFP.²

Secretary Irrigation

His first big break came in 1955 when he was appointed secretary of irrigation for West Pakistan, and was also chosen to represent West Pakistan in the Federal Planning Commission.

Chairman of Water and Power Development Authority

In 1958, GIK was made Member Wapda, an important assignment for planning and executing big water and power projects at a time when Pakistan was showing promise as a rapidly developing country.

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 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.

Tenure as Secretary of Defence

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-ul-Haq, who later ousted Zulfikar Ali 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. Among other things, he supported the Zia government's efforts to Islamize the economy by changes in the fiscal and banking systems.

Under Zia ul Haq he was given the lavish title of Secretary General in Chief to the Government of Pakistan.

President of Pakistan

In the 1985 elections, he won a Senate seat unopposed through the efforts of the then NWFP Governor, Lt Gen Fazle Haq³, shortly after which he was elected as Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan. Immediately after the death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1988, Khan became acting President in accordance with the Constitutional rules of succession.

As acting president, he deserves credit for holding largely fair and transparent general elections in late 1988, in which Benazir Bhutto's PPP emerged the winner. But GIK, with the military's support, ensured that Benazir Bhutto backed his candidature as president, instead of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, and he took over the reins of government as president on his terms and conditions.⁴

GIK was formally elected president on December 13, 1988 and held the position of President of Pakistan until 1993.

Appointment of Chief of Armed Forces

Khan reportedly vetoed the appointment of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Hamid Gul as Army Chief appointing the moderately reformist general Asif Nawaz Khan Janjua instead. Khan's presidency also saw the resignation of General Rahimuddin Khan from the post of Governor of Sindh, due to differences between the two after Khan started restricting Rahimuddin's vast amount of legislative power.

Dismissing the Governments of Bhutto and Sharif

GIK was a powerful president, armed with article 58 (2) B, which he used first on August 6, 1990, to dismiss the Benazir Bhutto government and dissolve parliament. He used it again in 1993 to pack up the Nawaz Sharif government and send the lawmakers home. On both occasions, he charged the democratically elected governments with misrule and corruption. Proving those charges and seeking convictions of the two dismissed prime ministers and their aides was never going to be easy. In the second case, the Supreme Court of Pakistan restored the Nawaz Sharif government, much to GIK's embarrassment, and prompted him to sponsor measures that restrained the Prime Minister from regaining control of the administration, particularly in his native Punjab.

The political crisis on that occasion became so serious that the Pakistan army had to intervene and its commander, General Abdul Waheed Kakar, reluctantly assumed the task of arbitrator. He came up a with a solution that sent both GIK and Nawaz Sharif home and paved the way for holding fresh polls under a caretaker government. Despite promises, Benazir Bhutto didn't sponsor GIK as the PPP candidate for president after winning the 1993 elections, choosing Farooq Leghari instead.

Currency crisis

During the early 1990s, Khan's administration failed to arrest the 30 per cent fall in the value of the Pakistani Rupee from 21 to 30 to the US Dollar.

Pakistan's Atomic Program

Ishaq Khan was one of the key players of Pakistan's nuclear program. Ishaq Khan was one of the main financial supporter of the nuclear program. He also maintained close relationship with Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. Ghulam Ishaq Khan, as President of Pakistan, established Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology to produce manpower and to promote nuclear sciences. He also appointed Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan as the executive member of the University. After the retirement of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission's chairman Munir Ahmad Khan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan eventually become the head of Pakistan's atomic program. Under his leadership, the program periodically progressed.

When Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (late) started the Pakistan's nuclear weapon program; Khan, as then-defence minister of Pakistan, played an important and central role in Pakistan's nuclear weapon devices and the construction of nuclear test sites. He is reported to be present at the second cold test along with Lieutenant General Zahid Ali Akbar Khan, General Khalid Mehmud Arif and Chairman of PAEC Munir Ahmad Khan.

Retirement and death

Despite coming to an arrangement with the PPP government to be re-elected to the presidency after the 1993 elections, he was eventually dropped as a candidate in favour of Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari. He subsequently retired from politics and avoided contact with the international and national media. He died on 27 October 2006 after a bout of pneumonia.

Family

He had one son and five daughters. His son Mamoon Ishaq Khan, is employed as an engineer in an oil company in Oman.
Two of his son-in-laws are in politics, namely: Anwar Saifullah Khan and Irfanullah Marwat.