Rabbani was politically active during his university years at the University of Karachi[6] and was head of Liberal Students Federation in 1974.[8] He is said to have affiliated with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) since 1968.[1][2] He was in jail during the rule of Zia u Haq.[3] He received his LLB degree in 1981.[6][7]
He started practising law after the completion of his studies.[3]
Political career
Rabbani started his political career through PPP in the 1981.[5][6]
He served as an Advisor, Chief Minister of Sindh, for Co-operative from 1988 to 1990.[1][3][5][6]
He was inducted into the federal cabinet in 1994 and appointed as the Minister of State for Law and Justice[3] during the second government of Benazir Bhutto[6] where he served until 1996.[1][5][9]
In 1996, he became the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.[5] In 1997, he was appointed as the deputy secretary general of PPP by Benazir Bhutto.[3]
He was re-elected to the Senate in 2003 for three years.[1][5]
He was re-elected to the Senate in 2006 for six-year term.[1][5]
He remained Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 2005 to 2008.[3][5] After the victory of PPP in 2008 Pakistani general elections, he refused to join the federal cabinet of Yousaf Raza Gillani due to reluctance to take oath from then president of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf.[3]
He served as the Leader of the House in the Senate from 2008 to 2009.[5]
After resignation of then President Pervez Musharraf, On 3 November 2008, Rabbani was inducted into the federal cabinet with the rank of federal minister[3][6][10] and appointed as Advisor to the Prime Minister on Inter-Provincial Coordination where he served until 9 March 2009 when he resigned[1][11] against the decision of PPP to nominate Farooq Naek as chairman of the Senate.[3]
In 2011, he was again inducted into the federal cabinet with the rank of federal minister[12] and appointed as the Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination and Human Rights where he briefly served from February 2011 until his resignation in May 2011.[1][2][13]
Later he went on to serve as the chairman of the parliamentary committee for constitutional reform and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security.[3]
He was re-elected to the Senate in 2012 for six-year term.[1][5]
After the PPP lost the 2013 general election, he was made additional secretary general of PPP by Zardari.[3]
In July 2013, he was nominated as PPP candidate for presidential office.[14]
PPP later announced to boycott the presidential elections citing the decision of Supreme Court.[15]
Rabbani has been awarded Nishan-e-Imtiaz for his parliamentary services.[1][5][3]
Despite his disagreements with PPP's leadership, Senator Rabbani was named by the President to be the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reform in 2008.[17]
His services and credentials led to his simultaneous appointment to the chairmanship of the Beginning of the Rights of Balochistan where he worked on presenting a package to redress the problems of the Balochistan Province to the joint sessions of the Parliament.[18] Despite his recommendations, none of the provisions in the packages would be carried out by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani who would later entangle with the Supreme Court over the missing persons scandal.[19] In 2003, Rabbani demonstrated his opposition against the Iraq war in 2003, over the issue of its nuclear program.[20]
During the height of the United States-Pakistanborder confrontations, Rabbani declared to the media about the shift-changing policy of Pakistan as United States' ally and quoted: "We need to prioritize our own national-security interests. As far as the U.S. is concerned, the message that has gone with this resolution will definitely ring alarm bells, vis-à-vis their policy of bulldozing Pakistan."[21]
Rabbani has written in support of socialism, communism, constitutional justice, and left-wing ideas. In 2003, he authored a book, "LFO: a fraud on the Constitution", in a direct opposition to PresidentPervez Musharraf and a scheme of legitimising his rule.[23][24]
In response to insurgency situation in the country, Rabbani reputedly declared that "Politico-religious parties and right-wing political groups are conniving with the establishment to damage and weaken left-wing parties."[25] His statement came during the 2013 general elections, in which, left-wing parties were under immense pressure from the right-wing insurgent groups to limit their political campaigns.[25] Rabbani later accused the international community for supporting the conservative parties in an opposition against the leftist parties.[25] While accusing former president Parvez Musharraf for supporting the ultra-conservative alliance to curb the left-wing parties, Rabbani, with another Marxist Taj Haider, accused the West and the United States of supporting right wing parties for their bid in the elections.[26]
Writings
He is the author of the following books:
Rabbani, Mian Raza. A biography of Pakistani federalism : unity in diversity. Islamabad: Leo Books. ISBN9693705505.
Rabbani, Mian Raza (2003). LFO : a fraud on the Constitution. Q.A. Publishers. p. 241.
Mian Raza Rabbani; Fouzia Saeed; Maliha Hussain (2012). Raza Rabbani : a national hero. Islamabad: Mehergarh Research and Publications. ISBN978-9699659089.
