Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi (Urdu: چودھری پرویز الہی) (November 1 1945 – , is a Pakistani politician. He comes from Bharaich Muslim Jat Clan. He was the Chief Minister of Pakistan's most populous province, Punjab (Pakistan), from 2002 to 2007.
Background
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is a son of Chaudhry Manzoor Elahi and nephew of late Pakistani politician Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi. Zahoor started life as a policeman but he turned his family's fortunes in politics and business His family is commonly referred to as Chaudhrys of Gujrat and they were born into a Waraich family of Jats.
His cousin and brother-in-law, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from May to August 2004. He was the parliamentary leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Q) Party. He is also the President of PML-Q, Punjab and was earlier Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, He gave his resignation to Dr. Fahmida Mirza on 14th September, 2008.
Education
He studied at Forman Christian College, Lahore and completed his graduation in 1967, and thereafter obtained a diploma in Industrial Management from the University of London[1]
Political career
Early Political Career
He became Chairman of the Gujrat District Council in 1983 and served as a Member of Provincial Assembly of Punjab till 1985.
He served as Minister for Local Government and Rural Development during 1985-88, 1988-90 and 1990-93. He was the Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly during 1993-96, and also the Leader of Opposition later. He was the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly during 1997-99.
Recent Political Career
In the elections of 2002, he was elected for sixth consecutive term from two Constituencies - PP-110 (Gujrat) and Rahim Yar Khan, and became the 18th Chief Minister of Punjab. He remained Chief Minister up to November 22 2007.
2008 election
In the Pakistani Parliamentary elections, 2008, Elahi ran for the National Assembly as a PML-Q candidate, and it was believed that the party wanted him to become Prime Minister after the elections, although not officially declared as the candidate for premiership.[2] He ran for the seats NA-58 in Attock, NA-61 in Chakwal, and NA-187 in Bahawalpur,[3] along with two provincial assembly seats.[2] After the election, he was reported to have won the National Assembly seat in Attock but lost the other two.[4]
Despite the PML-Q's defeat in the elections, Elahi said that he thought the Party had still performed well enough to take part in a future government.[5] The Party was left in opposition, however. Elahi was the PML-Q's candidate for Prime Minister following the election; in the parliamentary vote, held on March 24 2008, he was defeated by Yousaf Raza Gillani of the PPP, receiving 42 votes against 264 for Gillani.[6]
His son Moonis Elahi also participated in the elections. After a very publicized campaign which cost the PML Q a lot, Moonis Elahi lost the Provinicial Assembly Seat from Lahore for which he was running for, however he won the Provincial Assembly Seat and was elected to the Punjab Assembly for the first time.
As Chief Minister of Punjab, Elahi did some very good work for Punjab especially for the Provincial Capital Lahore , which is considered the heart of Pakistan. Among other things, Elahi improved the condition of hospitals in Punjab, opened the Rescue 1122 service, improved the quality and quantity of police forces and attained some other milestones as well.
Elahi is still the President of PML Q in Punjab and is gearing up his party for the next elections, believing that the current government will not last the 5 years.
Named as suspect in Bhutto assassination attempt
After the suicide bomb attacks that killed hundreds of supporters during rallies immediately after her return to Pakistan from exile in 2007, the former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto named four persons, including former Intelligence Bureau Chief Ijaz Shah, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, former Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, and the former ISI chief Lt Gen (retd) Hamid Gul, as those who posed a threat to her life. Bhutto instructed a news reporter to reveal this in case she was assassinated.[7]
External Links
References
- ↑ Top guns got Rs 54bn loans written off
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Amir Mateen, "PML-Q and the Maharaja", Dawn.com, February 5, 2008.
- ↑ "The top 33 fights among big guns", thenews.com.pk, February 17, 2008.
- ↑ "Liberal parties rout mullahs in NWFP : All the King’s men, gone!", Daily Times (pakistanlink.com), February 19, 2008.
- ↑ "Shujaat accepts party’s defeat", Daily Times, February 20, 2008.
- ↑ "Pakistan assembly elects new PM", Al Jazeera, March 24, 2008.
- ↑ Bhutto names suspects in letter to Musharraf 24 Oct 2007, 1706 hrs IST , PTI, http://www.ppp.org.pk/mbb/articles/article121.html
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