Nisar Ali Khan

Early life and education

Khan was born on 31 July 1954 to Brigadier (retired) Fateh Khan in Chakri village, Rawalpindi District. He attended Aitchison College and Army Burn Hall College.

He is the younger brother of General Iftikhar Ali Khan.

Political career

Khan began his political career in the 1980s. He became close to Nawaz Sharif during the rule of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq.

He was first elected to the National Assembly in the 1985 general election from constituency NA-52 (Rawalpindi-III). He was re-elected to the National Assembly from the same constituency in the 1988 general election on the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad ticket. He was then appointed as the Federal Minister for Science and Technology. After getting re-elected for the third time to the National Assembly in the 1990 general election on the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad ticket from constituency NA-52 (Rawalpindi-III), Khan was made the Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources and Provincial Coordinator, where he served from 1990 to 1993 during the first government of Sharif. He was re-elected to the national assembly for the fourth time in the 1993 general election from constituency NA-52 (Rawalpindi-III).

He was re-elected to the National Assembly for the fifth time in the 1997 general election from constituency NA-52 (Rawalpindi-III) and was for the second time appointed as the Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, where he served until he was dismissed in October 1999 after the coup d'état when then Chief of Army Staff, Pervez Musharraf, overthrew the elected government of Sharif. Khan was placed under house arrest for many weeks. Khan was among Sharif's loyalists who kept the PML-N alive during the Musharraf rule. Musharraf was reportedly appointed as the Chief of Army Staff on the recommendation of Khan.

Khan was re-elected to the National Assembly for the sixth time in the 2002 general election from constituency NA-52 (Rawalpindi-III). However, he lost the election in constituency NA-53 (Rawalpindi-IV).

He was re-elected as a member of the National Assembly in the 2008 general election for the seventh time, both from constituency NA-52 (Rawalpindi-III) and from constituency NA-53 (Rawalpindi-IV). Later, Khan vacated the NA-52 seat and retained NA-53.

Khan was appointed as the Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock and Federal Minister for Communications in March 2008 in the government of Yousaf Raza Gillani, but his tenure was short-lived due to PML-N's decision to leave the Pakistan Peoples Party-led coalition government.

In September 2008, he was appointed as the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly after the resignation of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. In October 2011, he became the first-ever chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly, which was created to audit the accounts of the government, but he resigned in November 2011 claiming that accountability was not possible under the Pakistan Peoples Party regime led by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani.

For the 2013 general election, Khan was made part of PML-N’s central parliamentary board tasked with selecting candidates for the election. Khan was re-elected to the National Assembly from constituency NA-52 (Rawalpindi-III) for the eighth time in the election and was appointed as the Federal Minister for Interior and Narcotics Control in the Sharif cabinet , as he had a close relationship with the Pakistan Armed Forces.

In 2013, Dawn reported that, although Khan had no post in PML-N, he was known for his assertiveness in the party’s affairs and had had differences with other PML-N leaders. Reportedly, before the 2013 election, Khan lobbied to become the Chief Minister of Punjab, Pakistan, and proposed that Shehbaz Sharif be made Minister for Water and Power, but Nawaz Sharif did not give the party ticket to Khan for the provincial seat. In spite of that, Khan contested the election for provincial assembly seat as an independent candidate and won. Dawn reported that Khan was once considered the de facto chief minister of Punjab.

In March 2015, The News International commended the 21-month progress of Khan as Interior Minister. However, Khan was held responsible for failing to implement and enforce the proposals and plans of the National Action Plan. Khan was also criticised for delaying the inauguration of the Safe City Project in Islamabad, under which 1,800 surveillance cameras were installed across the city.

He ceased to hold ministerial office on 28 July 2017 when the federal cabinet was disbanded following the resignation of Sharif after the Panama Papers case decision. A day earlier, Khan had announced that he was considering stepping down as Interior Minister and resigning from membership in the National Assembly because of his differences with the party leaders. After the resignation of Sharif, Khan held a farewell meeting with his Interior Ministry staff and made it clear that he would not become part of the next federal cabinet of the incoming prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who is junior to him. On 4 August 2017, Abbasi announced his cabinet without Khan being a member. However, reportedly Khan did not renounce his seat in the National Assembly.

Political views

Despite being perceived as anti-American, a contradictory version of Khan's political views surfaced in a US diplomatic cable which was leaked by WikiLeaks in 2011. The cable, which was sent by the former United States Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson, in September 2008 reads: "As always, Nisar insisted that he and the PML-N were pro-American (saying that his wife and children in fact are Americans)." Khan clarified that he was not against the American nation, but was opposed to the US policy towards Muslims after the 9/11 attacks.