LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stalwart and former defence minister Ch Ahmed Mukhtar passed away on Wednesday morning. He was 74.

Mukhtar held many offices in the PPP besides secretary general of the party. He was in the field of politics since 1990. He was a successful businessman. His family owns a leading shoe brand in the country. After his election to the National Assembly in 1993, Mukhtar was appointed Minister for Commerce till 1996 during the tenure of former premier Benazir Bhutto. He was appointed minister for defence in 2008. Later, he also served as minister for water and power. He had also served as Chairman Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). He was considered a fast friend of Asif Ali Zardari. He has left behind a wife, two sons and a daughter. His funeral prayer was offered in Lahore’s Defence Housing Authority in the afternoon followed by his burial at a local graveyard.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman, and Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry besides other PPP leaders expressed deep sorrow and grief over and his death, terming him “a fine man, solid friend and party loyalist.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020