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Abida Hussain | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Food and Agriculture | |
| In office 21 February 1997 – 12 October 1999 | |
| Prime Minister | Nawaz Sharif |
| Preceded by | Yousuf Talpur |
| Succeeded by | Sikandar Hayat Bosan |
| Constituency | NA-87 |
| Minister of Population Control and Census | |
| In office 21 July 1997 – 12 October 1999 | |
| Deputy | Ahsan Iqbal (Dy Chair. of thePLANCOM) |
| Preceded by | Julius Salik |
| Succeeded by | Omar Asghar Khan |
| Pakistan Ambassador to the United States | |
| In office 26 November 1991 – 24 April 1993 | |
| Appointed by | Nawaz Sharif |
| President | Ghulam Ishaq Khan |
| Preceded by | Najmuddin Shaikh |
| Succeeded by | Dr.Maliha Lodhi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Syed Abida Hussain 1948 (age 76–77)[1][note 1] Jhang,Punjab,Pakistan |
| Citizenship | Pakistani |
| Political party |  PPP (2023-present) |
| Other political affiliations |  PMLN (2022-2023) PTI (2018-2022)PMLN (2013-2018)PPP (2008-2013) PML-Q (2001-2008)PMLN (1997-1999)PPP (1993-1996)PMLN (1990-1993) Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (1988-1990)Pakistan Muslim League (1985-1988) |
| Spouse | Fakhar Imam |
| Relations | Jugnu Mohsin (cousin)[2] |
| Children | Sughra Imam (Daughter) |
| Alma mater | Bahauddin Zakariya University (B.A. inPoly Sci.) |
| Profession | Landlord, diplomat |
Syeda Abida Hussain–Imam (سيدہ عابدہ حسین b. 1948[1]) is a Pakistaniconservative politician,diplomat andsocialite on the platform of thePakistan Muslim League (N).[3]
Born into afeudal family in Pakistan, she served as thePakistan Ambassador to the United States from 1991 to 1993, and theMinister of Food and AgriculturePopulation Control in the second administration of Nawaz Sharif from 1997 untilbeing removed in 1999.[4][5]
She is known for her political views that reflectfiscal conservatism oneconomical issues as well as for herconservation of theenvironment andwildlife of Pakistan.[6]
Abida Hussain was born inJhang,Punjab inPakistan, into awealthy family that ownedfarmhouses,cattle ranges andranches in 1948.[1] Her father,landlord Syed Abid Hussain Shah, was an honoraryColonel in theIndian Army and a politician who was elected on the platform of theMuslim League for a seat in theConstituent Assembly ofIndia in1945–47.[7] He first served as a cabinet minister in theMinistry of Talents of the Prime Minister,Mohammad Ali Bogra in 1954–55, and later as a cabinet minister in theadministration ofFeroze Khan in 1958.[7]
Hussain received aBritish-style education atConvent of Jesus and Mary in Lahore where she qualified for herCambridge exams and later completed herO andA-Level qualifications fromSurval Montreux inSwitzerland.[7][8] She spent additional semesters studyinghistory inFlorence inItaly but did not obtain her degree and returned toPakistan after beingarranged to marryFakhar Imam,her cousin, who was a bureaucrat at that time.[7][9][10]
After themilitary takeover in 1999 and thepresidential ordinance enforced in 2002, Abida was disqualified from participating innational politics due to the lack of submitting proof of abaccalaureate degree to theElection Commission, which is a requirement.[9] In 2002, she went to attend theundergraduate program inEconomics at theBahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) but switched her major, and graduated withB.A. inPolitical Science in 2008.[9][11]
Abida Hussain is married toFakhar Imam who is also a politician onPML(N)'s platform.[7] She is a Shia muslim.[12]
Her daughter,Sughra, pursued her footsteps and is also a politician on thePML(N)'s platform and currently tenuring in theProvincial Assembly of the Punjab.[13]
After her father's death in 1971, Abida Hussain enterednational politics on the platform of thePakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and wonJhang constituency during thegeneral elections held in 1970.[14][15] After being elected to theProvincial Assembly of Punjab, she was appointed chairperson of the People's Workers Programme, and sat as a backbencher.[15][16] In 1974–75, she was opposed to thenationalization of industries and land reforms initiated byPrime MinisterZulfikar Ali Bhutto, causing strains with her in the party.[14]
In 1977, she lost her party's constituency nomination toHaider Bharwana.[15] In 1979, she was electedMayor ofJhang, becoming the first woman to head acity government, and was re-elected in 1983.[17]
When the1985 general election was announced, she joined thePakistan Muslim League (PML) and stood inConstituency NA-87 against clergy member, Rehmatullah Bharwana; she was noted as the first woman first women to be elected to theNational Assembly on a general seat.[18] In 1988, she sided with the conservative faction led byFida Mohammad Khan, and joined thePML(N) led by itsPresidentFida Mohammad.[19]
In the1990 general election, she fought the election against the influential cleric,Haq-Nawaz Jhangvi, who later founded the violentLeJ after losing the elections forConstituency NA-87 to Abida Hussain.[20] After her name wasplaced on a hit list by theLeJ,Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif became concerned for her safety, and immediately appointed her as thePakistan Ambassador to the United States effective immediately in 1990.[1][20]
On 26 November 1991, Abida Hussain took the charge of theplenipotentiary of thePakistan Embassy in theWashington, D.C. in theUnited States— she was the first woman diplomat to be appointed as thePakistan Ambassador to the United States.[1][20] Her appointment came at the troublant time for theforeign relations with theUnited States, due to Americans placing themilitary embargo on thePakistan's military.[9] She acted as Pakistan's principle negotiator with theUnited States Department of State, and described the meetings with the American officials stressful due to Americans keep demanding the rollback of theclandestine atomic bomb program.[21]
At the time of her launch of herautobiography, she later identified the issue ofnuclear weapons was the principal source of distress between bilateral ties ofPakistan and theUnited States.[21] Hussain has written in her memoir that the "conversations and negotiations with the American functionaries and the American politicians were quite rough. Because they would make only one demand: "Roll back your [atomic] program". And, since I was quite clear that we cannot do that, our conversations were not friendly."[22][23] In talks with Sharif in Islamabad, Abida Hussain recommended cancelling of the acquisitions of theF-16s fighter jets and have funds refunded from theUnited States government, which Sharif was also of the same view point.[22]
Abida later levelled accusations on the American contractor,General Dynamics, of bribing her after making the suggestions as the contractor wanted Pakistan to continue funding theF-16 program for thePakistan Air Force until the contract ended.[22] She also maintained that the chair of theboard of directors of theGeneral Dynamics, offered her to pay off her children's expensive education inHarvard andYale, and also offered an estate inWashington, D.C.: she rejected the offers and confided her conversation Sharif in 1993.[22][24]
In an interview withThe Telegraph in 2016 in India, Abida Hussain claimed that,U.S. Vice PresidentAl Gore mistook her twice as her deputy chief was the ambassador.[1] After thegeneral elections held in 1993, Prime MinisterBenazir Bhutto recalled her from her diplomatic assignment, and posted Dr.Maliha Lodhi, a career officer, as the Pakistan Ambassador to the United States.[25]
After returning to Pakistan, Abida Hussain worked towards theagriculture, and sat in theopposition bench in theParliament, and credited Sharif of agriculture revolution by introducing effective tube wells during the election campaign of Nawaz Sharif in 1997.[4]
In 1994, she was implicated of receivingfinancial funding from theintelligence community, and testified in thecase hearings in 2016 at theSupreme Court of Pakistan that "we (conservatives) were led to believe that it was an election fund for members of the government."[26]
After successfully defending her constituency during thegeneral elections held in 1997, Abida Hussain joined the second administration of Sharif as theMinister of Food and Agriculture and later becoming theMinistry of Population Control and Census.[27][28] She was later rumored to be appointed in theUnited Nations asPermanent Representative of Pakistan but this appointment was never considered.[29]
In 1998, she notably oversaw the successful and peacefulnationwide census in all over the country.: 225 [30]: 2 [31] When India conducted thenuclear tests in May 1998, Abida Hussain became one of thewar hawk in the party, ultimately calling to breakpolicy of deliberate ambiguity, and conduct theatomic tests in response to India.[19] Over theKargil front in 1999, she sided with Prime Minister Sharif, and ultimately suggesting to call for the meeting with theChairman joint chiefsGen.Pervez Musharraf over this issue.[32]
After themilitary takeover of the federal government in 1999, Abida was imprisoned inAdiala Prison along with the leadership of the PML(N), and an inquiry was opened on her financial wealth that ultimately called her "a major defaulter.": contents [33]
Although, she was later released in 2002 with no inquiry actions taken against her.: contents [33] Abida Hussain later testified that the inquiries were drop due to her agreeing on a deal with theMusharraf administration to defect to thesplinter faction underShujaat Hussain, that would allow her to take participation in thegeneral elections that were held in 2002.[34] Despite agreeing on a deal with Musharraf's administration, she was disqualified to take further participation ingeneral elections held in 2002, mainly due to failure to submit the proof ofbaccalaureate degree.[34]
Abida Hussain's political views reflects thefiscal conservatism on economic issues, andenvironmental conservatism onwildlife issues in her country, as she opposed to the issue ofnationalization of corporate industry by the government as it did not suit well with the conservative industrialists.: 17 [6] She also sided with Sharif's over many national security issues, and called for thecivilian control of the military after 1999.: 359 [32]
In 2002, Abida Hussain was disqualified from participating in the national politics by theElection Commission due to her lack of proof to submit thebaccalaureate degree after the controversialnew executive order signed by Musharraf.[35] The new order eventually forced her to attend the university for the college degree to ensure the survival of her political career.[35] In 2006, she conditionally agreed to join thePakistan Peoples Party after disagreement arises with the PML(N) over the policy issues.[36][37] In 2007, she harboured doubts on Musharraf' promises on giving security toBenazir Bhutto and reportedly Bhutto to avoid attending the political rally inNational Park inRawalpindi, which Bhutto attended and wasassassinated.[26][38] In 2008, Abida and her husband, Fakhar, reportedly lost thegeneral election, and reportedly seek their retirement after Abida and Fakhar left the PPP in 2012.[34][39]
During thegeneral election, in 2013, Abida Hussain supported the PML-N candidate in Jhang by-elections, and ran herdaughter's successful campaign to be elected for theProvincial Assembly of the Punjab on the platform of the PML(N).[40] She reportedly quit the politics and currently overseeing the horse racing and breeding in her constituency.[1] In 2016, she spoke very high of Nawaz Sharif, whom she considered to beself-made man and leader in politics, and paid tribute to Sharif for the services his done for his country's environment and agriculture.[1][4]
According to The Telegraph in India, Abida Hussain age was 68 in 2016.
One senior Pakistan Muslim League leader, Abida Hussain, has reportedly just sat BA exams at a university in Multan to ensure she qualifies to stand in October's election.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Pakistan Ambassador to the United States November 1991 – March 1993 | Succeeded by |
