Former prime minister of Pakistan Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali passed away at a hospital in Rawalpindi at the age of 76 yesterday evening, his relative Senator Sana Jamali confirmed.
Jamali was shifted to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology & National Institute of Heart Diseases (AFIC-NIHD) in Rawalpindi after suffering a heart attack last week, for the last few days, he had been put on a ventilator in the Coronary Care Unit of the hospital.
Jamali, the country’s first and only elected prime minister from Balochistan, had served during the military regime of Gen Pervez Musharraf. However, Gen Musharraf sought his resignation in 2004 and he was replaced by Shaukat Aziz.
After resigning, Jamali pursued his passion for field hockey. In 2004, he became president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation and vowed to solve the problems facing by the Pakistan Hockey Federation and revive the Pakistan men’s national field hockey team.
In 2008, he resigned as its president after the national hockey team performed poorly at the Olympic Games. He remained a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2013 till 2018. In June 2018, he quit PML-N and joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Prime Minister Imran Khan in a tweet said he was “saddened to hear of the passing of” Jamali and sent condolences to his family.
Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa expressed “heartfelt condolences” on the former premier’s demise. “May Allah bless his soul & give strength to the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss,” an Inter-Services Public Relations tweet quoted him as saying.
