Abdul Akbar Khan passes away

Funeral largely attended; Qul to be held tomorrow

MARDAN: Prominent leader of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and former provincial assembly speaker Abdul Akbar Khan died of cardiac arrest on Thursday. He was 68.

He had been suffering from diabetes, hypertension and other ailments since long. He was admitted to the Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, a few weeks ago after his condition deteriorated. His funeral prayer was offered at Spinkai village, Palodheri, in Mardan district and was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard.

A large number of people including politicians, PPP leaders and workers attended his funeral. Born at Spinkai village in Mardan on September 1, 1949, Abdul Akbar had done LLB. His father Sher Akbar Khan was a local landowner.

Abdul Akbar started his political career in the early 1970s from the platform of PPP and quickly rose to prominence due to his commitment to the party, his legal and parliamentary knowledge and friendly nature.

He was elected MPA five times in the 1988, 1990, 1993, 2002 and 2008 general elections on the PPP ticket. His only losses were in the 1997 and 2013 elections. He lost his last electoral contest to the young and unknown PTI candidate Tufail Anjum for a provincial assembly seat in the 2013 polls.

After the 1988 general elections, he was elected deputy speaker of the provincial assembly.He became the speaker KP Assembly in 1993. He also served as PPP parliamentary leader in the provincial assembly from 2002-2013. As a parliamentarian he kept the ruling parties on edge during assembly proceedings due to his grip on parliamentary issues.

Abdul Akbar married twice, once in 1969 and for second time in 2000 in a known family of Dir. He has two children, a daughter named Malaika Akbar and a son Abdal Akbar.He was known for his straightforwardness and lively nature.

He was forever in touch with his voters and this was the reason for his success in the assembly elections. With his death, the KP has lost another seasoned politician and the PPP has been deprived of a sure vote-getter and parliamentarian. His Qul will be held in his village Spinkai in Mardan on Saturday.