Newsmaker: Jamali makes way through political maze

Will this man be Pakistan's new prime minister?

For Zafarullah Jamali, the man chosen by Pakistan's Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam for his anarchist zeal and revolutionary spirit to lead, the student politics of the 60's held no charm.

A young student from an influential and political Baloch clan, he knew the pragmatic road to political supremacy lay right in the centre. A student at the elitist Aitchison College in Lahore, he knew then that siding with the establishment would be more profitable than "daydreaming of comrades", overthrowing "capitalist" establishments.

Jamali, 58, now the leading contender for the premiership of Pakistan, has travelled for a while now on the now familiar road to success. In his college days, the well-built Jamali had two dreams; playing hockey for the Pakistan national team and becoming the prime minister of the country.

Jamali captained Punjab University's hockey team but a sports injury dashed his ambitions for playing for the national side. Instead, he became the chief selector of the Pakistan hockey team twice and called the shots from the sidelines for a game he had loved so much. He mastered the skill of dodges and has used it to perfection throughout his career.

His second dream could be easier to achieve.

He hails from a wealthy clan of Jamalis, who were always supporters of the Indian Muslim League, which played a leading role during the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. His uncle Mir Jafar Khan Jamali was close to Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan.

People in Balochistan say Jinnah used to stay at Jamali's home, and eventually helped him in initiating a movement, which resulted in Balochistan becoming a part of the newly-founded Pakistan.

"The Jamalis are known for their pro-establishment role throughout and Zafar is no exception. Jamalis like the Soomros of Sindh always sided with the powerful military junta. They swim with the tide and achieve their goals ," says Rafiq Baloch, a nationalist from Balochistan.

In the early 1970's when the Baloch tribes of Marris, Mengals and Bugtis were fighting against Pakistan security forces in an insurgency that killed hundreds, the Jamalis played a silent spectators' role.

Zafar was naturally influenced by the family's way of politics when he entered the field of politics in the 1977 polls as a provincial legislator in a highly volatile political atmosphere of the country.

The former military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq dismissed prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's government and two years later Bhutto was hanged in 1979, with Islamic parties siding with Zia-ul-Haq.

Jamali knew instinctively the way he had to go – he became a state minister in Zia's cabinet. He became so close to Zia-ul-Haq that he became the dictator's choice for prime ministership after the 1985 general elections, which were boycotted by Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party.

But the wind changed at the last moment when Pir Pagara insisted on Mohammed Khan Junejo's name and Zia-ul-Haq had to succumb to the pressure because he wanted to counter the Bhutto family supporters with the help of the influential spiritual leader.

Jamali then was made a federal minister. But when in 1988, Zia-ul-Haq dismissed Junejo's government, a few months before Zia's sudden death in a plane crash, the trusted Jamali became the caretaker chief minister of Balochistan.

The 1988 elections witnessed the thumping victory of Benazir Bhutto, and Jamali chose his own province as a political haven. He was elected Balochistan's chief minister for a brief tenure. In 1993, he was a member of the National Assembly.

But when president Farooq Leghari dismissed Benazir Bhutto's second government in 1996, Jamali again emerged as the readymade choice for the Balochistan chief minister.

Jamalis have their own style of politics. Besides Zafar, his nephew Jan Jamali and cousin Taj Jamali have held the post of chief minister of Balochistan. But Zafarullah Jamali is the most well-known personality among the Jamali clan.

"Despite being pro-establishment, the Jamalis are considered educated, refined and gentle people. They are not cruel as other tribal chief and sardars. So people do have respect for them," says a Quetta-based analyst, Saleeem Shahid.

Nicknamed "Jabal (rock)" Khan, Jamali is known as a rigid and disciplined person, but in political circles he is considered a flexible man, who plays his cards smartly.

This time around, when the bigwigs of the Pakistan Muslim League parted ways with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and formed their own PML (Quaid-e-Azam) group, Jamali joined their ranks from the beginning.

He knew the PML (QA), dubbed by many as the king's party, had a fair chance to form the government, with Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in exile.

Luck has smiled once again on this politician who has always dreamed of becoming the prime minister.
He has been nominated by the PML-QA as its candidate for the premiership. With the first parliament session a few days away, Jamali seems a whisker away from achieving his ambition of becoming the prime minister of Pakistan. Jamali till now has used his political skills carefully, walking slowly and gradually with the establishment.
But whether this ambitious former hockey player will be able to weave his way around an already slippery political minefield remains to be seen.