Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani life and biography

The current Prime Minister, Makhdoom Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani was nominated by the Pakistan People’s Party (P.P.P) with the support of coalition partners. He was sworn in as the Prime Minister on 25th March 2008 and took the oath of office from former President Pervez Musharraf. He is also the present Vice Chairman of his political party. Gilani was also a former Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan and a former Federal Minister. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani joined PPP soon after the Junejo government after a brief stint with Muslim League.

Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani was born on 9th June 1952 at Karachi in Pakistan. He was born in an influential Shia family of Multan. Gillani’s father was a descendant of Syed Musa Pak, who was a spiritual leader of the Sufi order. He received his early education at the St. Mary's School and La Salle High School located at Multan. In 1970, he graduated in Bachelor of Arts and earned a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Punjab.

His venture into politics began from the platform of Muslim League of Pakistan in 1978, when the martial law of General Zia-ul-Haq's was in term. He also served as cabinet member during the 3 year governance of Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo. Thereafter, he moved from Muslim League and joined Pakistan People’s Party in the year 1988. He then served as cabinet minister again during the rule of Benazir Bhutto, as the Minister of Tourism (1989-1990) and Minister of Housing and Works (January 1990 - August 1990).

Political Career

Gillani was elected as the speaker of National Assembly of Pakistan during the government of Benazir Bhutto from 1993-96. He remained the speaker till February 1997. He has provided constant support to PPP, especially during the times of crises and that has earned him much respect in his party. He is regarded as a mature and a principled politician, more so after serving as a committed speaker in the National Assembly.

Due to his respectable image in Pakistani politics, he was nominated by the PPP for the post of the Prime Minister of Pakistan on March 22nd, 2008. This decision was taken after thorough consultations among the party members and the allies. The announcement that he has been selected as the Prime Minister was made later that day. He was formally elected as the Prime Minister on March 24th 2008 by the Parliament and defeated his rival, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi of PML (Q) by a score of 264 to 42. He was sworn into office by former President Pervez Musharraf on March 25th and won a unanimous vote of confidence in the Parliament on March 29th.

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