Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao (; born 20 August 1944) is a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

politician who is the current chairman of the centre-left

Pashtun nationalist Pashtun nationalism () is an ideology that claims that the Pashtuns form a distinct nation and that they should always be united to preserve their culture and homeland. In Afghanistan, those who advocate Pashtun nationalism favour the idea of a " G ...

Qaumi Watan Party Qaumi Watan Party ( or ; ), abbreviated as QWP and formerly called Pakistan Peoples Party–Sherpao (PPP–S), is one of the prominent political parties in Pakistan, that split away from the Pakistan Peoples Party just before the 2002 general elec ...

, after previously being a member of the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...

. He was a member of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

from November 2002 to May 2018. Sherpao previously served as the Federal Interior Minister of Pakistan. He had earlier been the Federal Minister for Water and Power, Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas and States & Frontier Regions and Minister for Interprovincial Coordination. Sherpao has also served as the 14th and 18th Chief Minister of the

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

province

Early life and education

Sherpao was born on 20 August 1944. He received his early from

Lawrence College Murree Lawrence College Ghora Gali is a school situated in Murree Tehsil, Punjab, Pakistan. The college is located in the foothills of the Himalayas and Pir Panjal at a height of about 1950 metres (6395 feet) above sea level, covering an area of . It i ...

, and

Edwardes College Edwardes College Peshawar (Urdu: ایڈورڈز کالج پشاور, Pashto: اېډوارډز کالج پېښور) is a semi-government degree college which is the oldest higher education institution in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkh ...

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

. He joined

Pakistan Military Academy Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) is a military academy located nearby Kakul village in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Established in October 1947, it is the only service academy in Pakistan that trains cadets to serve as army of ...

with the 34th Long Course in 1964. After passing out from Pakistan Military Academy in 1965, he joined

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

where he served for 12 years, rising to the rank of Major. While in military, he took part in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He is brother of

Hayat Sherpao Hayat Mohammad Khan Sherpao (; 1 February 1937 – 8 February 1975), simply known as Hayat Sherpao, was a left-wing intellectual and socialist, who served as the 15th Governor of North West Frontier Province (now the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provin ...

, and alter ego of Subhan Ali Khan of Tangi.

Political career

Sherpao started his political career with

in 1975 after taking retirement from Pakistan Army on the advice of then Prime Minister of Pakistan

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

after his elder brother Hayat Sherpao was assassinated in a bomb blast in Peshawar. He was elected to

for the first time in the

1977 Pakistani general election Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic Rep ...

on Pakistan Peoples Party seat from NA-3. He boycotted the

1985 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 25 February 1985 to elect members of the National Assembly.Paki ...

. He was re-elected to the National Assembly in the

1988 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 16 November 1988 to elect the members of the National Assembly and Senate. The elections saw the resurgence of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) under the leadership of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's daughter, Ben ...

. He was elected as the

Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the head of government of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The chief minister leads the legislative branch of the provincial government, and is elected by the Provincial Assembly. As lon ...

in 1988 and remained in the office from 2 December 1988 till 8 August 1990. He became the Leader of the Opposition in the

Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is located in Peshawar, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of t ...

following the

1990 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 24 October 1990 to elect the members of the National Assembly. The elections were primarily a contest between the People's Democratic Alliance (PDA, a four party alliance led by the ruling Pakistan Pe ...

. He was re-elected as the

in 1994 following the

1993 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 6 October 1993 to elect the members of National Assembly. The elections took place after both the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan resigned to resolve a power struggle. Prio ...

, in which he defeated Afzal Khamosh of the

Mazdoor Kisan Party The Mazdoor Kisan Party (MKP; ; ; lit. " Workers and Farmers Party") is a communist party in Pakistan. It was founded on 1 May 1968 by Afzal Bangash and Sher Ali Bacha. Other prominent leaders included Ishaq Muhammad and Imtiaz Alam. In the 19 ...

by a narrow margin of 54 votes. He remained Leader of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 1993 to 1997. He was re-elected to the National Assembly in the

1997 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 3 February 1997 to elect the members of National Assembly. The elections were a fierce contest between Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by pre-election Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the Pakistan Mus ...

. He remained senior Vice-Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party from 1997 to 1999 and leader of Pakistan Peoples Party in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 1997 to 1999. In 1999, he developed differences with

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was also the first woman elected to head a democratic governmen ...

. It was reported that differences between Sherpao and Benazir Bhutto were cropped after the defeat of PPP in the

. Benazir Bhutto suspected that Sherpao played a role over the dismissal of her government. Sherpao denied the claims. After the

1999 Pakistani coup d'état The 1999 military takeover in Pakistan was a bloodless ''coup d'état'' initiated by the military staff at the Joint Staff HQ working under the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharr ...

, he went into self-exile in the United Kingdom due to multiple corruption cases. Upon return to Pakistan for the

2002 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 10 October 2002 to elect the 12th National Assembly and four Provincial Assemblies. The elections were held under the military government of Pervez Musharraf. The two mainstream parties, Pakistan ...

, he was jailed on corruption charges. In 2002, he created his own faction, of Pakistan Peoples Party-Sherpao and late 2002, was elected unopposed as the chairman of his own faction, Pakistan Peoples Party-Sherpao. He was re-elected to the National Assembly in Pakistani general election, 2002. In November 2002, he was appointed as the Minister for Water and Power with the additional portfolio of Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination in the federal cabinet. In December 2002, Sherpao was given additional charge of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas and State of Frontier Region. In 2004, he was appointed as Minister for Interior in the federal cabinet. After getting re-elected to the National Assembly in the

2008 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 18 February 2008 to elect members of the 13th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. On 3 November 2007 President Pervez Musharraf enacted a state of emergency; elections were initia ...

from his home constituency, NA-8, Charsadda, he formed

. He was re-elected to the National Assembly in the

2013 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on Saturday 11 May 2013 to elect the members of the List of members of the 14th National Assembly of Pakistan, 14th National Assembly of Pakistan, National Assembly and the four Subdivisions of Pakistan, Pr ...

Pakistan Football Federation

Sherpao served as president of the

Pakistan Football Federation The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is the national governing body of association football in Football in Pakistan, Pakistan. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of Association football, football, and affiliated to the A ...

between 1988 and 1989.

Assassinations attempts

In April 2007, he was injured in a

suicide attack A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

in Charsadda after a suicide bomber blew himself in a political rally which killed at least 22 people. It was the first attack on him. In December 2007, second assassination attempt was made when a suicide bomb blast targeted Sherpao which killed at least 57 in a mosque in Charsadda. In April 2015, Sherpao was targeted in a suicide attack in Charsadda for the third time. Sherpao survived the attack.

External links

Official Twitter

Official Facebook

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherpao, Aftab Ahmad Living people 1944 births Pakistani MNAs 1977 Pakistani MNAs 1997–1999 Pakistani MNAs 2002–2007 Pakistani MNAs 2008–2013 Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018 Pakistan Army officers Pakistani prisoners and detainees Pakistani exiles North-West Frontier Province MPAs 1988–1990 North-West Frontier Province MPAs 1993–1996 Government of Shaukat Aziz Qaumi Watan Party politicians Edwardes College alumni Lawrence College Ghora Gali alumni Pashtun politicians Aftab Ahmad Interior ministers of Pakistan Chief ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistani political party founders Pakistan People's Party politicians Presidents of the Pakistan Football Federation