Mushahid Hussain Sayed

Abu Ammara

Mushahid Hussain Sayed combines a number of traits and has an unblemished career in the financial domain despite having been a federal minister. Belonging to the emerging urban middle class, he has never got a plot from the government anywhere or any other financial benefit that is considered normal and a prerogative in Pakistan while holding a senior public office. During his conversations, he always has the conventional touch of his native Lahore city.

After the October 12, 1999 coup led by Pervez Musharraf, Mushahid was held without any charges as prisoner for 440 days, including a period in solitary imprisonment. Amnesty International declared him a ‘Prisoner of Conscience' making him the first such Pakistani to be so honoured for the year 2000. No case, no charges were filed in any court against him.

Mushahid was appointed information minister in the Nawaz Sharif cabinet after 1997 elections. He was associated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that he had joined when it was in the opposition in 1993.

Later, he joined the king’s party, the PML-Q, which was carved out of the PML-N. He has been criticised by his detractors for switching to the PML-Q, but he always countered them by saying that he did not leave the PML-N but its leaders fled the country. He was named the PML-Q secretary general — a post many believed was given to him on Musharraf’s order.

However, despite remaining in the king’s party, he continued to loudly differ with Musharraf on several key issues. He was against the filing of the reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the November 3, 2007 packing up of the judiciary by Musharraf, the Balochistan operation, etc.

Long time ago, he had raised his voice in the Senate calling for the release of the ‘political prisoners’ including Asif Zardari, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Javed Hashmi. At the time, none from the PML-Q dared to say such things.

Mushahid is currently a senator and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate. He has been a journalist, university teacher and political analyst. He has a Master’s degree from the School of Foreign Service in Georgetown University at Washington. While studying in the US, he was president of the Pakistan Students Association and was awarded a Congressional Internship to work in the US Congress. In Pakistan, he studied at the FC College in Lahore, from where he did graduation.

After completion of studies in the US, he returned to Pakistan and became member of directing staff at the country’s prestigious training institution for civil servants, the Pakistan Administrative Staff College, where he trained new entrants to the Foreign Service of Pakistan. He then joined the Punjab University as lecturer on International Relations in the Political Science Department.

In 1982, at the age of 29 he became the youngest editor of English daily, ‘The Muslim’, published from Islamabad, which was respected for its independent position. His articles have been published in various national and international publications including ‘The New York Times’, ‘The Washington Post’, ‘International Herald Tribune’, ‘Middle East International’. He has authored three books. He was Pakistan’s representative to the Commission of Eminent Persons, set up by the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) for its reform in 2004-05.

Mushahid is also the vice president of the Centrist Democrat International (CDI), a grouping of over 100 centrist political parties from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. On January 27, 2006, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Achievement by the House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines.

At times, fiercely independent journalists, whose integrity is above board, criticise Mushahid for using the profession of journalism as a springboard to make a niche in politics. But it is a fact that Mushahid never looked back. He joined the politics never to become editor again despite different offers.

When the presidential election was announced following resignation by Musharraf on August 18, 2008, the PML-Q named Mushahid as its candidate for the top office of the country. His rivals included Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, and Justice (Retd) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqi, fielded by the PML-N.