In a surprise announcement on Wednesday, Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Sherry Rehman was appointed as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States. Ms Rehman replaces Husain Haqqani, who resigned after the “Memogate” scandal continued to grab headlines, embarrass the governing PPP and set off opposition leaders who have been screaming treason while calling for a Supreme Court inquiry. The Memogate scandal alleges that Mr Haqqani dictated an unsigned secret memo and passed it along through unofficial channels to the US government, asking for foreign intervention in Pakistan in case of a military takeover in Islamabad in the wake of the May 2 assassination of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.

Talking to news reporters, Ms Rehman applauded Mr Haqqani for stepping down with grace and doing the right thing for himself and the government. And though it is rumoured that the lawmaker had long coveted a post in the foreign service, this current posting is arguably far from the job she envisioned: it is a tough job at an even tougher juncture in Pak-US relations. There are few people who would be jumping at the chance to sit in Washington and represent Pakistan at this point in Pakistan’s history, especially when bilateral relations are so strained and mutual distrust is soaring high.

Travel back with Newsline and rediscover a few of our past interviews with Sherry Rehman, as well as an article authored by her, to get a sense of the personality and convictions of the woman who is now Pakistan’s top envoy to the US.

From December 2010:
Maheen Bashir Adamjee talks to Sherry Rehman about her proposed series of amendments to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. Read more.

From March 2010:
Newsline speaks with Sherry Rehman about gender equality in Pakistan. Read the full interview.

From March 2005:
Sherry Rehman talks about the fortunes of women in Pakistan and the role of women parliamentarians in building a fairer and safer environment for women in the country. Click here for more.

From March 2004:
“Women in the House”
Sherry Rehman writes about her first year as a lawmaker and the impossible battles she fought when it came time to initiate women’s legislation in parliament. She asks: “Why have women parliamentarians not been able to deliver on any of the promises that they made to themselves and others when they got sworn in as public representatives?” Read more here.