Muhammad Khan Junejo (18 August 1932 18 March 1993) was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the tenth prime minister of Pakistan from 1985 to 1988 under president Zia-ul-Haq. He sought to strengthen the parliamentary system and assert civilian control over national affairs, which resulted in tensions with the Zia administration, ultimately leading to his dismissal.
After participating in the 1985 elections, he was chosen to form the government on Pakistan Muslim League's platform, of which, he took over the party's presidency. His government was noted for its support of conservatism, austerity measures that reduced the government budget deficit, and repealing of the emergency laws which allowed the freedom of press and media in the country. Despite strong resistance and fierce opposition from President Zia-ul-Haq, Junejo authorized his Foreign Minister Zain Noorani to sign and ratify the Geneva Accords in 1988. His relations with President Zia-ul-Haq further soured when he opened a parliamentary inquiry on the Ojhri Camp disaster in 1988. On 29 May 1988, Prime Minister Junejo was dismissed by President Zia over charges on incompetence and economic stagflation and immediately called for new general elections. After the general elections held in 1988, he led his own faction while holding ceremonial party's presidency.
Early life and education
Mohammad Khan Junejo belonged to a Sindhi Rajput Family. He hailed from an influential agriculturalist family in Sindh that had a traditional conservative mindset.
He was educated at the St. Patrick's High School in Karachi and later graduated from the St. Patrick's College. He went to Hastings in England where he was trained as an agriculturist and earned a diploma to be certified in 1954.
Junejo was an agriculturist and a farmer who cultivated the famed Sindhri mangoes in his local village in Mirpur Khas. His father, Deen Mohammed Junejo a landowner in modern-day Mirpurkhas District (Sindhri) is also notable for being the one to introduce South Indian variety of mango to his plantations, which over time developed into the Sindhri mango. Junejo was a conservative Muslim and a dominant figure in his village, who had his wife living in the village for her entire life, and kept her out of public sight even when he was elected as prime minister and eventually moved to Prime Minister's Secretariat. Nothing or very little was known about his wife as he often traveled and visited other states with his elder daughter; he was married with five children.
Early political career
Upon returning from the United Kingdom in 1954, he joined the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and under Ayub Khan's Basic Democracies system was elected as Chairman of Chairman of the Sanghar Local Board (or Mayor for Sanghar District) and worked as a party worker for the Muslim League until 1963. He participated in elections and was elected for West-Pakistan legislative assembly and soon he joined the Ayub administration and subsequently held cabinet department of Health, Communications and Labour until 1965.
Prime Minister of Pakistan (1985-1988)
Election
In January 1985, President Zia-ul-Haq announced to hold nationwide general elections that would be based on non-partisanism– there have been political rumors that the U.S. President Ronald Reagan had a subsequent political role in such regards.
Junejo was successful in defending his constituency from the Sanghar District and was known to be a religiopolitical missionary of Pir Pagara who had been leading his own political faction in Sindh. President Zia considered three names for the appointment of the Prime Minister that included: Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Liaquat Ali Jatoi and Junejo– all were from Sindh.
Two days after the promulgation of the RCO (Revival of Constitution 1973 Order) on 2 March 1985, President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq held a meeting with the Martial Law Administrators (MLAs) to select a prime minister. According to amendments in the constitution the President was to nominate a prime minister from the newly elected National Assembly. The MLAs decided since that former deposed prime minister, Z. A. Bhutto was Sindhi, the new prime minister should also be from Sindh. The MLAs supported the candidacy of Elahi Bakhsh Soomro over Mohammad Khan Junejo (who was also shortlisted). However, after General Zia's consultation with Pir Sahib Pagara led to the dropping of Soomro and Junejo being selected for the role.
President Zia hand-picked and appointed Junejo as prime minister through an invitation to form the civilian government in accordance with the Revival of Constitution Order (RCO). His mindset reflected a conservatism and was a powerful feudalist whom President Zia considered him to be ineffective in leading towards the decision-making processes. and after securing votes in the Parliament through the Vote of Confidence (VoC), he met with President Zia and reportedly asking him about the ending of the martial law. According to General Khalid Mahmud Arif, Junejo neither expressed happiness or thanked Zia after news of his appointment as prime minister. Early in his premiership during an address as the National Assembly, Junejo stated that Martial Law and Democracy could not coexist. Zia did not appreciate these remarks and Gen Mujibur Rehman, Zia's information secretary had them expunged from the PTV telecast.
Junejo attended every session of parliament and remained accessible even after office hours in order to build ties with members of parliament who were elected on non-party basis and had their own personal power bases. In an order issued through the Pakistan Banking Council (PBC), no bank was authorized to sanction a loan to any political office-holder without first referring the matter to him. Rajiv Gandhi at the 1987 SAARC Summit in Kathmandu, and the Emperor of Japan, Hirohito the same year.
When Junejo made the announcement in parliament in June 1987 he added generals to the austerity list, which received widespread media coverage and editorial praise. The budget was passed. Following the response accorded to Benazir Bhutto, convinced Junejo that the party would need populist support. Its eleven-resolution manifesto published on 2 July promised economic reforms for the rural and urban poor, even of Junejo lacked the political base to do so. He gained legislative support by allowing members of the National Assembly to disburse development funds and residential plots to their own constituents.
Political conflict with Zia
In 1986–87, his political relations with President Zia began to deteriorate over the control of foreign policy. Against Zia's wishes Junejo authorized his Foreign Minister Zain Noorani to ratify the Geneva Accords that allowed the Russian retreat from Afghanistan. In this regard, he had held a party conference where he invited the Communist Party and Pakistan People's Party to discuss to end the bloodshed in Afghanistan. In 1987, he provided his political support and eventually used his prerogative to appoint Lieutenant-General Mirza Aslam Beg as vice-army chief, despite President Zia wanting Lieutenant-General Zahid Ali Akbar, who was instead sent to DESTO.
Junejo began to assert his authority in the appointments of senior army officers and approving promotions to three and four-star ranks. He would also withhold promotions until those he wished to promote were also promoted. An example being Lt. Gen. Shamim Alam Khan who later became Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), whose promotion on Junejo's insistence only came after Zia's choice Major General Pirdad Khan was also promoted. Junejo had sat on Pirdad Khan's promotion until Zia agreed to Alam's. Prior to his dismissal the latest appointments of corp commanders would also be approved by him. Following the massive explosion near the hidden Ojhri camp facility in Rawalpindi Cantonment that resulted in more than 100 lives lost, Prime Minister Junejo announced to call for a parliamentary inquiry to overlook the incident. After ordering an initial inquiry under Gen Imran Ullah Khan he changed his stance over fears of cover up and constituted another committee under Aslam Khattak, Qazi Abdul Majeed Abid, Ibrahim Baloch and Rana Naeem. Junejo informed the media that he would present the committee's report to the National Assembly and punish those responsible. According to Salman Faruqui, this was the "final nail in the coffin" for the Zia-Junejo relationship. Many investigative newspapers and political gossips pointed that it was the inquiry report on the "Ojhri Camp disaster" that implicated the military members in Zia's administration despite President Zia claiming of Junejo's Government had been dismissed because the law-and-order situation had broken down to an alarming extent and the government could not be run in accordance with the Constitution.
Later political career
During the general elections held in 1988 his Junejo Muslim League joined the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad alliance.
Legacy
Former Federal Secretary and Press Secretary to Junejo Syed Anwar Mahmood, writing an editorial in The News International called Junejo "honest to the marrow," who led "by example" and claimed he "never compromised" on integrity and merit. Further remarking he could not recall a democratically elected government in Pakistan governing so "fairly, cleanly and effectively," writing that its dismissal by Zia Ul Haq "derailed the democratic train so badly that it continues to wobble even today."
Journalist Shaikh Aziz called Junejo a "calm person" who never showed "high ambitions", when he was in communications with Ayub Khan. But after questioning Zia over the lifting of Martial Law he thought of becoming a "real prime minister".
Salman Faruqui, a former civil servant writing in Dawn claimed due to his farming background, Junejo was often able to foresee rough weather and gathering storms and would move accordingly. Further asserting "He had demonstrated leadership to a brutalised nation and given it some hope." Who conducted himself with "integrity and dignity, caring for the poor and downtrodden."