Former Punjab CM Manzoor Wattoo passes away in Lahore
LAHORE: Former Punjab chief minister Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo passed away in Lahore on Tuesday, his secretary Muhammad Asif confirmed to the media.
He was 86 years old.
Asif said the veteran politician died after a prolonged illness and is survived by three sons and four daughters.
His grandson, columnist Hassan Kamal Wattoo, also posted about the former CM’s demise on social media platform X.
“With profound sorrow, we announce the passing of my beloved grandfather, Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo,” he said, adding that funeral prayers would be held at the Wasawewala stadium in Okara at 2pm today (Wednesday).
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep grief over his demise, a post on the Presidency’s X account said.
It added that the president paid tribute to Wattoo’s “invaluable public service, role in strengthening democracy, and contributions to national unity”.
State-run news agency reported that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condoled his death, saying in a statement that “services of late Manzoor Wattoo for the country’s politics will always be remembered”.
The deceased politician belonged to the PPP and also served as federal minister for Kashmir affairs during the 2008-2013 PPP-led coalition government.
Wattoo hailed from Deepalpur in Punjab’s Okara district and had decades of experience in politics. He was born on August 14, 1939.
The politician was first elected chairman of the Okara district council in 1983 and became a member of the Punjab Assembly in 1985. He was also elected speaker of the assembly at the time.
In 1988, Wattoo was again elected as an MPA (independent) and soon joined the Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League, which was part of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) at the time. This time too, Wattoo became speaker of the house.
In 1993, he was elected as MNA and MPA from the IJI’s platform but opted to remain in Punjab, becoming speaker for the third time in a row.
He had led the IJI and PML-N MPAs to dislodge the provincial government of Ghulam Haider Wyne before the 1993 elections, shortly after Nawaz Sharif was removed as prime minister on the orders of then-president Ghulam Ishaq Khan under powers vested in the presidency under 58(2)(b).
Wattoo later became the chief minister with the PPP’s support.
The PPP, which had been unable to recapture Punjab, had to accept Wattoo as chief minister in exchange for the PML-Junejo’s support for it in Islamabad. Back then, Wattoo had with him just 17 MPAs in the provincial assembly against the PPP’s 92.
After Wattoo had a fallout with PPP in 1995, then-prime minister Benazir Bhutto installed Arif Nakai, another PML-Junejo man, as the new chief minister.
The same year, he formed PML-Jinnah after parting ways with PML-Junejo’s Hamid Nasir Chattha, who wanted to become the party president. Staff Report
