The candidate of Pakistan Peoples Party and its coalition partners for Prime Minister, Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, who is Vice Chairman of PPP belongs to an influential political and religious family of Multan.Soon after getting his Masters Degree in Journalism, from Punjab University Yousaf Raza Gillani joined the Muslim League’s Central Working Committee.

After a brief association with the Muslim League, Gillani joined PPP soon after the dismissal of Mohammed Khan Junejo’s government and has stayed with the party since then.

He was elected MNA in the non-party based election from NA-119 and remained member of the assembly from March 20, 1985 to May 29, 1980 and he also served as federal minister from 1985-88.

He remained speaker of National Assembly from October 17, 1993 to February 16, 1997.

In 2001, the Accountability Court awarded him 10 years imprisonment and fine to the tune of Rs. 100 million in a controversial illegal appointment reference case.

He spent four years in jail, during which both his sister and mother died. In October 2006 High Court set aside the imprisonment and released him on bail.

His unflinching support to the PPP in times of crisis and his refusal to bow to the establishment have built his image as a principled politician, a rare trait of Pakistani politics.

His conduct as speaker of the National Assembly raised his status as a mature politician committed to parliamentary traditions.      

As speaker of the National Assembly, he differed with the then Prime Minister Benazir on several occasions. He had issued summon orders under Rule 90 for jailed opposition leaders despite Benazir Bhutto’s open opposition.

Former Speaker Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani has been sentenced to ten years in jail for allegedly making appointments in violation of the rules.

Gillani was sentenced for what is called ‘misuse of authority’, a new offence incorporated into the statute in 1999 and given retrospective effect.

When Speaker Gillani made appointments in the National Assembly Secretariat in 1995 there was no such offense as ‘misuse of authority’. However, he was convicted by giving back dated effect to the law created in 1999 through an executive order.

He is also writer of a book “Chah-e-Yousaf Say Sada” wherein he shared his experiences and provided first hand account of Pakistan’s political leaders and their contribution to Pakistan’s political system; beginning from Ziaul Haq till the Musharraf regime.