Chowrangi

According to news reports, Wasi Zafar, law minister with big arm, is appointed as Minister of Privatization while Zahid Hamid who was holding the portfolio earlier, is now the Law Minister.

Wasi Zafar was rumored to be sacked and replaced by Zahid Hamid after government’s defeat in Chief Justice case and Wasim Sajjad’s refusal to become Law Minister.

As per the official profile, Wasi Zafar B.A., L.L.B., was enrolled as Advocate of District Court in 1972, Advocate of High Court and Supreme Court in 1974 and 1983 respectively. A practicing lawyer for 35 years (means he was still practicing while in the capacity of Law Minister), Wasi Zafar was Secretary,Lahore High Court Bar Association in 1982-83 and Member, Punjab Bar Council during 1983-88.

In 1988 Wasi Zafar became Member Provincial Assembly (Punjab) on the ticket of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Until 1996 he acted as Secretary Parliamentary Party, Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab for S&GAD and Member of the Cabinet. In 2002 he switched sides and joined PML-Q to contest for the National Assembly. On September 02, 2004 he was made Federal Minister for Ministry of Law, Justice & Human Rights which he remained till August 25, 2007.

Suspected to be brother of a corps commander, Wasi Zafar got away even after public display of his macho attitude. In August 2005 his son beat up a passenger at Karachi’s Quaid-e-Azam International Airport. In September 2005 he was again in news for beating a waiter at Hotel Marriott Islamabad.

Wasi Zafar came into limelight due to his blunt and insulting tone and his flame wars with media. He insulted Ansar Abbasi, reporter of The News, during a live programme on Voice of America (video link here) and further showed his arrogance during the programme ‘Aaj with Kamran Khan’.

DailyTimes reported an incident when Wasi Zafar was in hospital after angioplasty.

Zafar, in hospital after heart trouble, got irritated when a Geo reporter asked him why he had chosen May 5 for his angioplasty when his party was rallying in Lahore. Zafar replied: “May Allah give you and your elders the same pain, then you will get the answer of your question. If you ask me questions like this, I will answer you in the same manner.” The reporter said, “After your treatment you will contest the elections with extra energy and enthusiasm.” Zafar answered, “God willing, you will also have cardiac pain and then you will come to know the enthusiasm and energy I feel.”

When the reporter asked whether there were any chances of early elections, the minister said, “If this is your wish then it will never be fulfilled.”

In 2006 Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) launched an investigation against Wasi Zafar into reports of misuse of million of rupees meant for victims of human rights abuses (Daily Times)

With Wasi ‘Big Arm’ Zafar’s performance as Law Minister and the blunders Law Ministry did during his tenure, one can forecast a gloomy future for the Privatization Ministry.

Here is a sample of how Wasi Zafar acts in public:

Other posts by Kashif Aziz

• GEO TV Transmission blocked in Karachi? - November 17th, 2008
• American meat exporters using fradulent halal certificates - November 14th, 2008
• The case of Khanani and Kalia - November 10th, 2008
• Alcohol Exports Bring $220 Million To Pakistan - November 9th, 2008
• Open Letter of Appreciation to Government of Pakistan - November 5th, 2008
• Earthquake Strikes in Balochistan: More than 250 dead, 20,000 displaced - October 30th, 2008
• Pity the Nation - October 26th, 2008
• Lab Pay Aati Hai Dua .. Ban Kay Tamanna Meri - October 16th, 2008
• Predictions of the Century: The Fate of Sarah Palin, and Asif Ali Zardari and United States of America - October 12th, 2008
• Investors from Pakistan buying property worth millions of dollars at UAE Cityscape 2008 - October 9th, 2008

Thank you for reading this post. You can now Read Comments (3) or Leave A Trackback.