Sardar Usman Ahmad Khan Buzdar ( Urdu: سردار عثمان احمد خان بزدار; born May 1969) is a Pakistani politician who is the current Chief Minister of Punjab, in office since 20 August 2018. He has been a member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab since August 2018. He is also the tumandar of the Baloch tribe Buzdar, since April 2019. He served as Tehsil Nazim of Taunsa Sharif from 2001 to 2008.
Early life and education
He was born in May 1969 in Dera Ghazi Khan to Sardar Fateh Muhammad Buzdar.[1][2] He belongs to the Buzdar clan, which is a Baloch tribe settled in southern Punjab.[3] Buzdar received his early education from Government Boys Primary School in Barthi, Punjab.[4][1] He completed his Intermediate-level education from a Government College in Multan and received a degree of bachelor of laws from the Law College, Multan where he also practiced law at consumer courts for three years during his post graduation[4] Buzdar received a master's degree in political science from Bahauddin Zakariya University.[1][4]
Political career
In 2001, he joined Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q).[4] In August 2001, he was elected Tehsil Nazim of Tribal Area(Koh e Sulieman)[5] where he served until 2008.[6] During his tenure as Nazim, he was accused of making 300 bogus appointments.[5][7] An application was filed against him in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in September 2016, however NAB failed to carry out investigation.[8] Buzdar's brother denied the accusation claiming NAB was unable to find evidences against Buzdar after which the case was closed.[5]
He quit PML-Q after 2008 general election and joined a forward bloc.[9] According to another report, he remained politically affiliated with PML-Q until 2011.[10]
He joined Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) prior to 2013 general election[11] and ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency PP-241 (Dera Ghazi Khan-II), but was unsuccessful. He received 22,875 votes and lost the seat to Khawaja Muhammad Nizam-ul-Mehmood.[12]
He joined Janoobi Punjab Suba Mahaz prior to the 2018 general election.[10] Janoobi Punjab Suba Mahaz merged with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in May 2018.[13] Buzdar joined PTI[14] and was allocated PTI ticket to contest the 2018 general election from Constituency PP-286 (Dera Ghazi Khan-II).[15]
He was elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as a candidate of PTI from Constituency PP-286 (Dera Ghazi Khan-II) in the 2018 general election. He received 26,897 votes and defeated an independent candidate, Sardar Muhammad Akram Khan.[16]
On 17 August 2018, Imran Khan nominated him as PTI's candidate for the office of Chief Minister of Punjab.[10] His nomination surprised many in the PTI and received criticism.[17][18] He was noted as relatively lesser known figure in Pakistan's political spectrum.[19][20] Imran Khan claimed Buzdar "is the only MPA with no electricity at his home and he knows how the poor live."[21] Following which Buzdar's turned out to be a wealthy person[22] possessing agricultural land and houses in several cities.[23][24] On 18 August 2018, Imran Khan reiterated his support for Buzdar after news of murder charges on Buzdar were circulated in the local media.[14] Buzdar dismissed the murder allegations calling it "propaganda".[25] On 19 August 2018, he was elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab. He received 186 votes against his opponent Hamza Shahbaz Sharif who secured 159 votes.[26] He was sworn in as Chief Minister of Punjab on 20 August 2018.[27]
Under his watch as the Chief Minister, five Inspector General of the Punjab police have been changed.[28]
Cabinet
After assuming the office as the Chief Minister of Punjab, Buzdar held consultation with Imran Khan[29] and formed a 23-member cabinet. The 23-member cabinet sworn in on 27 August 2018.[30] The second part of his cabinet, consisting of 12 provincial ministers was sworn in on 13 September 2018 increasing the size of the cabinet to 35.[31]
1998 local bodies elections murder controversy
Following his nomination for the office of Chief Minister of Punjab in August 2018, reports had surfaced that a police case was registered against Buzdar and his father Sardar Fateh Muhammad Buzdar for their involvement in the murder of at-least six people during local bodies elections in 1998.[5] According to reports, an anti-terrorism court in Dera Ghazi Khan found Buzdar guilty[32][33][34] and convicted him in January 2000.[35] Following which, Buzdar's father paid Rs 7,500,000 as blood money to the victim's family to settle the murder case through a jirga.[36][37][14][38]
On 22 August 2018, Geo News reported that it was a case of mistaken identity and that Buzdar is not the same person who was accused for the murders.[39][40]
Personal life and net worth
In April 2019, after death of his father, he was made tumandar of the Baloch tribe of Buzdar.[41]
According to documents submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan in 2018, Buzdar declared his assets worth Rs25million.He declared to own three tractors and two cars worth Rs2.4 million and worth Rs3.6 million, respectively
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