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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 000900 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PK PREL PHUM
SUBJECT: AN ADDITION TO THE PM SHORT LIST: AHMED MUKHTAR 
 
REF: ISLAMABAD 872 
 
Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, Reasons 1.4 (b), (d) 
 


Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, Reasons 1.4 (b), (d) 
 

¶1. (C) Summary:  This is one of several profiles on  politicians who may be major players in the new Pakistani  government.  Ahmed Mukhtar, a crony of Pakistan People's  Party (PPP) Co-Chair Asif Zardari, emerged this week in the  press as an another possible candidate for PPP Prime  Minister.  End summary. 
  The Short List 
-------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Local papers February 28 featured for the first time  Ahmed Mukhtar as a contender to become Pakistan's next prime  minister.  Mukhtar's intra-party stock has risen in the last  two weeks after he defeated ruling Pakistan Muslim League  (PML) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in his home district  of Gujrat.  However, Mukhtar last held party leadership  positions in the 1990s as PPP Secretary General (1998-1999) 
and Commerce Minister (1993-1996).  Meeting with PolOff  February 29, Mukhtar stressed that, beyond these brief  stints, he has been a life-long PPP adherent. 
 
¶3. (C) Mukhtar was proud of his time in prison, 2002-2003, 12  months of which were served together with PPP Co-Chair Asif  Zardari in a Karachi jail.  When asked about the charges, he  offered only: ""They (Musharraf's government) claimed I  approved a rice export deal while I was Commerce Minister,  which was beyond my authority.""  (see bio notes, below) 
  Mukhtar's Own Short List 
------------------------ 
 
¶4. (C) When asked about his apparent addition to the PM short  list, Mukhtar denied that he forwarded his own name saying,  ""Any of us could... and should want to be... prime minister."" 
 He admitted that he would very much like the position, if  chosen, though he ""preferred"" to become President or  Petroleum Minister. 
 
¶5. (C) Mukhtar asserted that Zardari, not the PPP's Central  Executive Committee or the PPP parliamentary caucus, would  decide the premiership.  Asked about Zardari's plans, Mukhtar  became annoyed, insisting that Zardari had repeatedly stated  his dis-interest in becoming prime minister himself, and may  not even run in the April by-elections.  He predicted the  National Assembly would be called into session by March 5;  therefore, Zardari's decision on prime minister would not  have to be made until March 10, Mukhtar calculated. 
 
¶6. (C) Asked about the PPP's agenda in the coming government,  as well as his own priorities if he were selected prime  minister, Mukhtar stated that the legislature would  immediately have the GOP ""apologize"" for the killing of PPP  founder Zulfikhar Ali Bhutto and would reform the local  police and mayoral system instituted under Musharraf. 
 
¶7. (C) Asked about restoration versus independence of the  judiciary, Mukhtar said that judges deposed on November 3,  2007, should be returned to the bench.  Former Chief Justice  Iftikhar Chaudhary should not be re-seated, however, and  could be part of the quid-pro-quo with Musharraf, Mukhtar  stated.  The issue of the judiciary, he said, would be  immediately referred to a parliamentary committee and would  be resolved within a month or two.  Asked if the lawyers'  movement would march or the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz  (PML-N) would bolt from the coalition if the judiciary were  not restored in such short a time, Mukhtar shrugged, saying  both groups had just as much to lose as the PPP if there were  demonstrations. 
 
¶8. (C) Mukhtar predicted the quick demise of Musharraf and  his party.  He predict that 30 of 42 members of Musharraf's  PML party in the Assembly would likely jump ship, mainly for  the PML-N.  Citing reports that PML senators had formed a  forward block so they could vote against Musharraf, he said  this called into question Musharraf's control of the upper  house.  Neither the PML nor the Army took orders from  Musharraf anymore, Mukhtar claimed.  If the PPP-led coalition  commanded a super-majority in the parliament, ""Why shouldn't  Musharraf be impeached?"" 
  ISLAMABAD 00000900  002 OF 002 
 
 
  Additional Bio Info 
------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) Mukhtar is viewed as a hawk within PPP circles and  would like the party to seek retribution against the  Chaudhrys of Gujrat, his primary political opponents, and to  a lesser extent, against President Musharraf.  He actively  opposes any political dealings with the PML as long as the  Chaudhrys are members of the party.  He has fought Shujaat in  the same Gujrat constituency since 1990, intermittently  winning and losing.  He defeated Shujaat in the February 18  race. 
 
¶10.  (C)  Muktar's relationship with Zardari goes back to  their time together as cabinet colleagues from 1993-97.  He  reportedly lives off his family businesses and belongs to one  of Pakistan's 40 richest families.  He has been dubbed  Pakistan's ""shoe magnate"" because of his association with the  Servis Group, one of the biggest footwear manufacturers in  Asia. 
 
¶11.  (C)  Mukhtar is rumored to have gifted Zardari  significant amounts of money and is believed to have been  involved in a number of corruption cases from which both  derived profits. Mukhtar was jailed a total of 18 months (12  with Zardari) in May 2002 on two corruption charges.  He was  acquitted by the Sindh High Court in one case in November  2003 and by a Lahore Accountability Court in the other in  2007. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Born on June 22, 1946, Mukhtar earned a masters  degree in operational management from Northrop University in  1974.  He is married, with one son and two daughters.  The  older daughter is an American citizen and lives in the U.S.;  the younger daughter recently received a masters degree from  LUMS University in Lahore.  The son runs a textile factory in  Muridke, Punjab. 
 
¶13. (C) Comment: Zardari's distrust of the leading PPP PM  contended Amin Faheem continues to feed speculation about  alternatives.  Some have suggested that Mukhtar could be a  placeholder until Zardari himself runs in a by-election and  qualifies to be PM.  Faheem's rivals are working overtime to  press their own candidacies and may have thrown Mukhtar's  name out there to keep the pressure on Faheem.  Or Zardari  could want a dependable crony in the PM's chair.   End  comment. 
  PATTERSON