Okara – Veteran politician and former Punjab chief minister Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo, a senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), passed away on Tuesday after a prolonged illness. He was 86.
According to family sources, his funeral prayers will be offered after Zuhr on Wednesday, December 17, in his ancestral village Wasawaywala, located in Depalpur Tehsil of Okara district. He is survived by three sons and four daughters from two marriages.
Widely regarded as one of Punjab’s most experienced and shrewd political figures, Mian Manzoor Wattoo enjoyed a public career that spanned more than four decades. His entry into politics dates back to the era of General Ayub Khan under the Basic Democracies system. He later served as chairman of the Okara District Council before stepping into parliamentary politics.
His provincial political career gained momentum in 1985 when he was elected to the Punjab Assembly and chosen as its speaker. Over the years, he achieved the rare distinction of being elected Speaker of the Punjab Assembly three times.
A defining moment in his career came in 1993 when, while serving as speaker, he successfully moved a no-confidence motion against then chief minister Ghulam Haider Wynne. Despite his party, the Pakistan Democratic Front (PDF), holding only 17 seats in the assembly, he was elected chief minister of Punjab with the backing of the PPP. His tenure was marked by political instability, including two failed attempts by the Nawaz Sharif-led federal government to impose governor’s rule—both of which were overturned by the Lahore High Court.
Throughout his long political journey, Mian Manzoor Wattoo remained associated with several major political parties. He was part of Tehrik-i-Istaqlal led by Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan from 1979 to 1983, joined the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) from 1985 to 1993, and later became affiliated with PML (Junejo), PML (Jinnah), and PML-Q at different stages between 1993 and 2008.
In 2008, he joined the PPP and served as its Punjab provincial president, remaining with the party until 2018. He briefly aligned with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) from 2018 to 2020 before returning to the PPP, stating his intention to stay politically active within the party that had once supported his rise to the chief minister’s office.
Apart from his provincial roles, Mian Manzoor Wattoo also served as a Member of the National Assembly from Okara and held a federal ministerial portfolio during the 1990s.
The Wattoo family maintained political influence for decades after 1985. However, in the 2018 general elections, Mian Manzoor Wattoo contested as an independent candidate from Okara, while his son Khurram Jahangir Wattoo and daughter Rubina Shaheen Wattoo ran for Punjab Assembly seats on PTI tickets but were unsuccessful.
While his children are currently associated with the PTI, Mian Manzoor Wattoo himself remained loyal to the PPP in his later years.
Renowned for his political acumen, parliamentary command and ability to adapt to shifting political alliances, Mian Manzoor Wattoo’s passing marks the close of a significant chapter in Punjab’s political history.