Syed Fakhar Imam: senior statesman still setting the tone

Amid the political shenanigans of 2022/23, Syed Fakhar Imam, one of Pakistan’s most imposing political figures, has been quietly tending his crops, watching events unfold and, as usual, reading extensively.

Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research in Imran Khan’s government, until March this year, Fakhar Imam is an unusual character, a patrician statesman who is said to read the constitutions of foreign countries for relaxation. Known for his mastery of fine print as well as his grasp of the big picture, he is frequently consulted by younger politicians and others eager for sober analysis of political developments.

Imam has been an unmissable presence on Pakistan’s national stage for over four decades and he has seen political dramas before this; he has been personally involved at key moments.

He began his political career from the District Council, Multan and was appointed Minister for Local Government and Rural Development by General Zia in 1981. He resigned, as a matter of honour, in December 1983 when he lost his local district election by one vote.

Four years later he was dramatically elected as Speaker of the National Assembly against the explicit wishes of General Zia. After the non-party general elections in February 1985, Zia assumed that his candidate - Khawaja Safdar - would run the House.

Fifty-three prominent politicians publicly supported Safdar, but in the secret ballot on the 22nd March 1985 Fakhar Imam beat him by 119 votes to 111. Two months later, at the conclusion of the budget debate, Imam stunned the Assembly by holding Martial Law ‘illegal and without lawful authority’ since funds necessary to administer it were not reflected in the Budget. For the first time in Pakistan, martial law had been declared illegal while it was in place. Even his wife admitted later that she had had no idea that he was going to drop this bombshell.

It was less of a surprise when, in May 1986, the Law Minister moved a successfully orchestrated vote of no-confidence against the Speaker. Since then Imam has served as Leader of the Opposition, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Minister for Law, Minister for Education and as Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir.

As a young man, Fakhar Imam planned his own career with extraordinary precision. After Aitchison College and an English public school - Clifton College - he rejected the predictable Oxbridge route and chose to study agriculture at the University of California, Davis. He then joined the Civil Service to gain an understanding of the bureaucracy - not intending to make it his life’s work - before going into industry for a while.

Throughout his public life, despite his formidable political gifts Imam has generally seemed to stand somewhat aside from the fray. He is a slightly austere, fastidious man whose rectitude and occasionally chilly hauteur may make the less high minded uncomfortable. However, he has a reputation for pursuing the cases of his constituents, and of others in need, relentlessly.

He and his redoubtable wife, the politician and former Ambassador Syeda Abida Hussain, have long been one of Pakistan’s most intriguing power couples, she the more outgoing, he reserved and cerebral. Despite his ringside view of history, Fakhar Imam’s mind is firmly on the future and on what needs to be done to put Pakistan on the path to success. In his many public talks he reveals unwavering faith in Pakistan’s potential and in the importance of unleashing its talent.

Imam recently celebrated his eightieth birthday at his home in Lahore with friends and family. However, with the intellectual and even physical energy of a man half his age it is clear that he is not going to retire any time soon.