President Hussain maintained a low-key profile as president and his role was rarely seen in the nation's politics, although he was involved in a Polio eradication program.[7]
Initially supporting and strengthening his father's business, he later founded his own textile company in Karachi.[15] He later joined the center-right Pakistan Muslim League in 1970, working as a party worker.[17] In 1997, he earned public notability as a business leader when he was elected as president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, serving until May 1999.[18]
Political career
Hussain began to take interest in national politics in 1968 when he became chairman and joined the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) led by Nurul Amin. Initially, an activist with reformist zeal in 1968, Hussain became joint secretary of the Pakistan Muslim League's Karachi chapter.[16] In 1993, he officially joined the PML(N) led by Nawaz Sharif and was appointed the Finance Secretary of the PML(N) in Sindh.[16]
In June 1999, he became the Governor of Sindh, but his term was cut short on 12 October 1999 when the PML(N) government was ousted in a military coup.[16] His credentials as a politician devoted to the cause of democracy were established when he became a political prisoner after raising his voice against the military regime of Pervez Musharraf.[16]
Azhar Haroon, the former president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: "He had no political affiliation until 1999 but his polite discourse and professional ability impressed Nawaz Sharif, who appointed him as the Governor of Sindh".[20] He was a relatively lesser-known figure,[12][21] described as loyal to Nawaz Sharif,[22] and was elected President of Pakistan as the official nominee of the PML-N in the July 2013 presidential election. Hussain secured 432 votes and his only rival Wajihuddin Ahmed received 77.[23] He was sworn in on 9 September 2013 in a ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr, attended by mainstream political and military leadership alongside foreign dignitaries, media personnel and his close relatives.[24][25] At the time of assuming the office of president, he became the second oldest president of Pakistan.[26] His term for the presidency ended on 8 September 2018.[27] He was the second President of Pakistan whose family migrated to Pakistan from India after the Partition of India. He belonged to an ethnic Muhajir Family.[28]
Criticism of his own party
On 19 October 2017 while giving a speech at the USTB, Hussain blasted the leadership of his own party saying that the government had taken a loan of PKR 14,800 billion but no new schools or hospitals had been built in the past 4 years. The speech was ignored and not allow to broadcast on mainstream media.[29]
Death
In February 2020, Hussain was diagnosed with cancer and was under treatment.[3][30] On 14 July 2021, he died in Karachi, aged 80.[31]
^ abThe Newspaper's Staff Reporter (9 September 2013). "Mamnoon Hussain takes oath today". Islamabad: Dawn News, 2013. Dawn. p. 1. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)