Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi
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Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi was born on the 14 August 1931 in the Province of Sind. Eldest of the four brothers, Ghulam Mustafa's father, Khan Bahadur Ghulam Rasul Khan Jatoi was member of the Sind legislative assembly.
Ghulam Mustafa was educated at Karachi Grammar School and passed his senior Cambridge. In 1952, he went to England for his bar at law, but had to return home within one year due to his father's serious illness.
He was elected to the first Provincial Assembly of West Pakistan in 1958, and was re-elected in 1965.
Jatoi joined Pakistan People's Party in March 1969. In 1970, he was elected to the National Assembly on PPP ticket. In 1973, he was elected Chief Minister of the Sind, and held this office till 1977. He was re-elected in March 1977. After the imposition of Martial Law, Jatoi remained associated with the Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD). Twice he was arrested in 1983 and 1985. Later, he founded the National People's Party. A number of political heavyweights from all over the country were brought into the National People’s Party, launched under the chairmanship of Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi. Among them were Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Haneef Ramay, SM Zafar, Hamid Reza Gilani, Malik Hamid Sarfraz, Ghaus Bux Raeesani, Kamal Azfar, Mian Sajid Pervaiz, Nafees Siddiqui, Rana Muhammad Haneef, Rabbani Khar and Aftab Shah Gilani. An attractive manifesto was prepared and the party was expected to shoot into prominence in no time.
The NPP and the PML, then headed by Mr Junejo, contested the 1988 elections from the platform of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad. The PPP won the bout, though with a thin majority. Within no time Mr. Jatoi was eclipsed and dwarfed by the rising star of Nawaz Sharif.
In 1989, he was elected to the National Assembly in the by-elections from Kot Addu. After joining Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), Jatoi was elected leader of the combined opposition parties in the National Assembly in 1989.
Mr. Jatoi was appointed caretaker prime minister after the dismissal of Benazir government. By his own admission, he failed to hold free and fair elections. Contrary to all norms, Mr. Jatoi joined hands with the opposition in launching a movement against the Sharif government, branding it as a product of rigged elections.
NPP’s slide continued until it became a non-entity. The party still exists but only on paper. Not many people know the name of even its secretary-general, let alone local office-bearers. The party today stands confined to the home constituency of Mr. Jatoi and that too because of his personal influence, not the party program. Those who had joined hands with the Sindhi leader are nowhere to be seen.
He was again elected a Member of the National Assembly as a result of October 1993 elections, but lost his seat in the elections held in February 1997.
His two sons, Tariq Jatoi and Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi are also in politics.
| Preceded by: Benazir Bhutto | Prime Minister of Pakistan | Followed by: Nawaz Sharif |