Mamnoon Hussain: From textile boss to Pakistan president

Islamabad: Mamnoon Hussain, who will be sworn in on Monday as Pakistan’s 12th president, is a well-respected but low-profile businessman who had a successful career in textiles.

Often photographed smiling, the 73-year-old Hussain has spent most of his life as a key member of the business community in Karachi.

He owns a textile firm and was president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry at one point during Sharif’s second term as prime minister from 1997 to 1999.

In 1999, Sharif surprisingly appointed him governor of the southern province Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital. But his tenure was cut short when Sharif was deposed in a military coup.

Hussain was a key figure in Karachi for Sharif, whose Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) party is rooted further north in Punjab.

“He is a selfless and straightforward man who makes friendship out of sincerity not of utility,” Tariq Khaliq, a friend of Hussain’s for more than half a century, has said.

“He is thoroughly noble and a simple man and unlike traditional Pakistani politicians.”

Hussain was born on March 2‚ 1940 in Agra‚ India. He was still a child when he moved with his family to Karachi after the 1947 partition of the subcontinent into two separate countries when colonial rule ended.

He studied at Pakistan’s prestigious Institute of Business Administration in Karachi and inherited his family’s modest cloth business, which he exported and traded in the local market.

He served as a secretary of the PML-N in Karachi, but his appointment as Sindh governor was considered something of a surprise in political circles.

Sharif is understood to have been attracted by his loyalty and low-profile manner, and by selecting a president from the south he gives Karachi some stake in the federal government.

Hussain was elected president on July 30 by members of the four provincial assemblies and the federal parliament.

He won with 432 votes while his only rival Wajihuddin Ahmad received only 77, after the main opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) boycotted the vote.

He is married and has three sons who are in the banking industry.

Hussain is expected to abide strictly by his constitutional role as a figurehead in the parliamentary system, in contrast to his highly assertive and obtrusive predecessor Asif Ali Zardari.

He had publicly said after winning the July 30 presidential election as nominee of the PML-N that he would resign from the basic membership of the party.

“I will serve as president of all,” Hussain had said, referring to the constitutional requirement for head of state to be neutral and non-partisan and act as a symbol of the federation.

Former president Zardari had concurrently occupied the political office of co-chairman of the PPP, holding party meetings and activities at the presidency and exercising overarching influence in governance.

Analysts say Mamnoon Hussain fits in with the changed role of president after the 18th amendment to the constitution passed by the parliament in 2012 taking away key powers of head of state including a discretionary authority to dissolve an elected assembly.

The reforms removed distortions military presidents had inserted into the constitution to fortify their hold on power, contrary to supremacy of a prime minister in the parliamentary democracy envisaged in the 1973 constitution of the country.

Hussain’s 44-year political career under the League banner remained confined to Karachi, the biggest Pakistani city and capital of southern Sindh province.

The soft-spoken politician whom friends and associates describe as an amicable and pleasant personality took a bold stand when the second government of Sharif was overthrown in a military coup in October 1999.

While many in the party abandoned Sharif to side with military ruler Pervez Musharraf and formed PML-Q at his behest, Mamnoon Hussain steadfastly stood by his political mentor.

“I shall do my utmost to uphold supremacy of the constitution and rule of law,” he said in remarks following his win in a one-on-one contest with Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) presidential candidate Wajihuddin Ahmad.

A staunch loyalist of Sharif but with no power base of his own, Hussain’s time in office is expected to cement Pakistan’s democratic transition back to a ceremonial head of state.

He will formally preside over a government that must solve a power crisis, kick-start the economy, counter a Taliban insurgency and navigate a tricky alliance with the United States.

— With inputs from AFP