Former Punjab chief minister Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo passed away in Lahore on Tuesday, his secretary Muhammad Asif confirmed to Dawn.
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 tomorrow.
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 APP 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’s profile
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 (PML), which was part of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) at the time. This time too, Wattoo became speaker of the house.
In 1990, 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.
In April 1993, the province saw a week of political wheeling and dealing, centring primarily around Wattoo’s manoeuvres to win over a majority of PML lawmakers and replace then-chief minister Ghulam Haider Wyne. Wattoo’s power grab had been triggered by the April 18, 1993, dismissal of the first Nawaz Sharif government in Islamabad, by then-president Ghulam Ishaq Khan, on charges of corruption and under Article 58(2)(b) of the Constitution.
The motive behind Wattoo’s move was to strengthen his hold in Punjab against Nawaz ahead of the National Assembly polls, scheduled for July. As many as 151 out of around 220 PML lawmakers — in a house of 248 — deserted the party, voted out Wyne, and installed Wattoo in his place.
The PPP’s support also played a role in Wattoo’s election as the chief minister. The party, 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.
Later, the PML would split into two new factions: one led by Nawaz and the other, PML-Junejo, by Wattoo in Punjab and Hamid Nasir Chattha at the Centre, following the demise of its president, Mohammad Khan Junejo.
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, Wattoo formed PML-Jinnah after parting ways with Chattha, who wanted to become the PML-Junejo president.
In 1996, Wattoo became MNA from the PML-Jinnah platform. He faced corruption references and was convicted in a case. Wattoo was in jail for a few months and was later moved to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology on health grounds. His hospital room was declared sub-jail and he stayed there for over two years.
After his acquittal, he joined Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) during the regime of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf. He was considered to be a close friend of the former president and had agreed to merge his PML-Jinnah into PML-Q on Musharraf’s advice.
He later joined PPP just after getting elected as an independent candidate in the 2008 general election, which he won from both NA-146 (Okara-IV) and NA-147 (Okara-V). Wattoo decided to retain the NA-146 seat and his son Khurram Jehangir was later elected on a PPP ticket in the by-election for NA-147.
Wattoo was made PPP’s central Punjab president in October 2012. He also served as federal minister for Kashmir affairs during the 2008-2013 PPP-led coalition government.
Wattoo was known for being a master of the art of carving his way out to important positions in nearly every setup and his elevation to the PPP’s command in Punjab was shocking to many among the party’s provincial cadre.
Wattoo joined the PTI in September 2018, after he violated the PPP discipline by contesting the July 25 general election as an independent candidate against the party nominee.
He had made seat adjustment at the local level with the PTI candidate in a bid to win, but in vain.
Last year, he had rejoined the PPP.
