Ghulam Ishaq Khan (born January 20, 1915) was President of Pakistan from August 17, 1988 until July 18, 1993.

Khan was born on January 20, 1915 in the North-West Frontier Province. He completed his education in chemistry, and joined the Indian civil service prior to Pakistani independence. Upon independence, he was involved in irrigation projects in West Pakistan, and later went on to join the Finance Ministry, eventually becoming the Finance Minister.

In the 1985 elections, he won a Senate seat, shortly after which he was elected as Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan. Immediately after the death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1988, Khan became acting President in accordance with the Constitutional rules of succession, and was formally elected to the position in December of that year. He held the position of President until 1993.

Khan reportedly vetoed the appointment of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Hamid Gul as Army Chief, appointing the moderately reformist general Asif Nawaz Janjua instead. Khan's presidency was also marked by his use of Eighth Amendment reserve powers to check the government. While the Prime Minister is the Head of Government, Khan was able to dismiss the governments of both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif on charges of corruption, mismanagement, and nepotism, thereby triggering new elections, which the incumbent parties lost. The second dismissal of government exacerbated institutional and political opposition to Khan, leading to his resignation in 1993, and later to a constitutional amendment that reduced the Presidency to a figurehead.

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences is named for him, it is located in Topi, North-West Frontier Province.

External link

• In depth history of Khan's presidency