Pakistan Peoples Party’s Senior Vice-Chairman Makhdoom Ameen Faheem died after a prolonged illness late last night in a private hospital in Karachi.
He was diagnosed with blood cancer sometime ago and was hospitalised after his condition worsened a few weeks ago. He was 76 and was the spiritual head of Sarwari Jamat.
Belonging from Hala, Sindh, he contested eight elections from 1977, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2002, 2008 and 2013, remaining undefeated and creating a national record.
He was also one of the architects of Charter of Democracy that paved the way for both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to work together to make a comeback to the politics of the country against the dictatorial government of Musharraf.
Before that he also served as chairman of Alliance for Restoration of Democracy in late 1980s. As one of the PPP’s well respected leaders, he led the party in the absence of Benazir Bhutto when she was on a self-exile after Pervez Musharraf targeted the party and its leaders in a bid to solidify his control on country’s political structure.