Ahsan Iqbal | |
|---|---|
| احسن اقبال | |
.jpg) | |
| Ministry of Planning Development & Special Initiatives | |
| Assumed office 11 March 2024 | |
| President | Asif Ali Zardari |
| Prime Minister | Shehbaz Sharif |
| Preceded by | Sami Saeed |
| In office 19 April 2022 – 10 August 2023 | |
| President | Arif Alvi |
| Prime Minister | Shehbaz Sharif |
| Preceded by | Asad Umar |
| Succeeded by | Sami Saeed (caretaker) |
| In office 16 September 2017 – 31 May 2018 | |
| President | Mamnoon Hussain |
| Prime Minister | Shahid Khaqan Abbasi |
| Preceded by | Himself |
| Succeeded by | Shamshad Akhtar |
| In office 7 June 2013 – 28 July 2017 | |
| President | Mamnoon Hussain |
| Prime Minister | Nawaz Sharif |
| Preceded by | Naveed Qamar |
| Succeeded by | Himself |
| Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan | |
| In office 8 June 2013 – 28 July 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Dr. Nadeem Ul Haque |
| Succeeded by | Sartaj Aziz |
| Minister for Education | |
| In office 31 March 2008 – 13 May 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Javed Ashraf Qazi |
| Minister for Minorities | |
| In office 31 March 2008 – 13 May 2008 | |
| Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan | |
| In office 13 August 1998 – 12 October 1999 | |
| Preceded by | Hafeez Pasha |
| Succeeded by | Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry |
| 35thMinister for Interior | |
| In office 4 August 2017 – 31 May 2018 | |
| President | Mamnoon Hussain |
| Prime Minister | Shahid Khaqan Abbasi |
| Preceded by | Nisar Ali Khan |
| Succeeded by | Muhammad Azam Khan(caretaker) |
| Member of theNational Assembly of Pakistan | |
| Assumed office 29 February 2024 | |
| In office 2008–2023 | |
| In office 1993–1999 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1959-03-28)28 March 1959 (age 66)[1] |
| Political party | PMLN (1993-present) |
| Relatives | Chaudhry Abdul Rehman Khan(maternal grandfather) Nisar Fatima(mother) Ahmad Iqbal Chaudhary(son) |
| Alma mater | University of Engineering and Technology Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania |
Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary (Punjabi: احسن اقبال چوہدریcode: pan promoted to code: pa; born 28 March 1959) is aPakistani politician currently holding the position of Federal Minister of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives and Inter Provincial Coordination. He is also the Secretary General of thePMLN and has been a member of theNational Assembly of Pakistan since 29 February 2024.
Previously, Chaudhary served as a member of the National Assembly during various terms: from August 2018 to August 2023, from 2008 to May 2018, and from 1993 to 1999.
He held ministerial positions in several cabinets. He served as the Federal Minister for Planning and Development from 19 April 2022 to 10 August 2023 in thePDM government. From 2017 to May 2018, he served as both theMinister for Interior andMinister for Planning, Development and Reforms in theAbbasi cabinet. In thethird Sharif's ministry, he held the positions of theMinister of Planning and Development of Pakistan and the Deputy Chairman ofPlanning Commission of Pakistan and briefly served as theMinister of Minorities andMinister of Education of Pakistan in theGillani ministry in 2008. He also assumed the role of the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan from 1998 to 1999 during the Sharif's second ministry. Moreover, he served as federal minister for planning and development from 19 April 2022 to 10 August 2023.
According toPILDAT, Chaudhary was born on 28 March 1959.[1] According toThe News International, he was born on 28 September 1958.[2]
Belonging to aPunjabiRajput family, his maternal grandfatherChaudhry Abdul Rahman Khan was a member of thePunjab Legislative Assembly during theBritish Raj, later the family had to move out ofJalandhar, now inIndian Punjab, due to the1947 partition.[3]
His motherNisar Fatima was the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan on reserved seats for women in the1985 Pakistani general election.[4][5]
His brother Mustafa Kamal has served as the chairman of theParks and Horticulture Authority (PHA).[6]
Chaudhary received his early education from thePAF College Sargodha.[7] He attended theUniversity of Engineering and Technology, Lahore to study mechanical engineering in 1976 from where he graduated withBSc in 1981.[5]
In 1984, Chaudhary attended theWharton School of the University of Pennsylvania from where he didMBA in 1986.[5]Dawn reported that he also attendedGovernment College Lahore,Georgetown University andHarvard University.[5]
Chaudhary started politics as president of the student union ofUniversity of Engineering and Technology. He was then associated withIslami Jamiat Tulaba, student wing of the right wingJamat-i-Islami.[4]
In the1993 Pakistani general election, he became member of the National Assembly for the first time after winning constituency NA-117 ofNarowal. In 1993, he served as Policy and Public Affairs Assistant to thenPrime Minister of Pakistan.[5]
He was re-elected as the member of theNational Assembly for the second time in the1997 Pakistani general election.[5] when his party PML-N won clear majority in National Assembly for the first time in the history ofPakistan, Chaudhary played his role in several key government positions. He was appointed as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan with the title of Minister of State, chairmanPakistan Engineering Council and was also a chairman for the National Steering Committees on Information Technology and IQM and Productivity. Chaudhary continued on the positions allotted to him till the1999 Pakistani coup d'état in which then Chief of Army Staff,Pervez Musharraf, overthrew elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his existing elected government.[5]Dawn reported that on Chaudhary's initiative Pakistan's first national IT policy was formulated.[5]
In the2002 Pakistani general election, he lost the National Assembly seat.[5] During the Musharraf rule, Chaudhary taught management at theMohammad Ali Jinnah University in Islamabad from 2000 to 2007.[5] Chaudhary is considered a loyalist of Nawaz Sharif who kept the PML-N alive during the Musharraf rule.[5][8]
In the2008 Pakistani general election, Chaudhary was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly for the third time. He briefly served as the Minister for Education of Pakistan[9] with an additional portfolio of Minister of Minorities' Affairs in theGillani ministry.[10][11][12][13] But after PML-N decided to sit on opposition benches due to a disagreement with PPP related to thereinstatement of the judges dismissed by former President Pervez Musharraf in 2007, he resigned six weeks into the newly formed PPP-led coalition government.[5][10]
In 2011, Chaudhary was elected as Deputy Secretary General of PML-N.[5][14]
In the2013 Pakistani general election, Chaudhary was made part of PML-N's central parliamentary board tasked with selecting candidates for the election.[8] Chaudhary was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly for the fourth time in 2013 general election.[9][15] He was appointed as the Minister of Planning and Development[9][16][17][18] as well the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission of Pakistan.[19]
In February 2016, Chaudhary was appointed as theUnited Nations Development Programme's 'champion minister' from the Asia Pacific region in recognition of his efforts to promote theSustainable Development Goals.[20]
In July 2017, the federal cabinet, which included Chaudhary was disbanded following the resignation of Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif after thePanama Papers case (Pakistan) decision.[21] Following the election ofShahid Khaqan Abbasi as Prime Minister of Pakistan, Chaudhary was inducted into the federal cabinet of Abbasi and was appointed Minister for Interior for the first time.[22][23] On 16 September 2017, he was given the additional charge ofMinistry of Planning and Development.[24][25] In November 2017, he was criticised by theChairman of the Senate of PakistanRaza Rabbani for not takingSenate in confidence with regards to the crackdown against the2017 Tehreek-e-Labaik protest which led to resignation ofMinister for Law and Justice,Zahid Hamid.[26][27][28][29] Upon the dissolution of the National Assembly on the expiration of its term on 31 May 2018, Chaudhry ceased to hold the office as Federal Minister for Interior and Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform.[30]
He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from ConstituencyNA-78 (Narowal-II) in the2018 Pakistani general election.[31] He received 159,651 votes and defeatedAbrar-ul-Haq, a candidate ofPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).[32]
He was arrested on 23 December 2019 by theNAB, over the alleged Narowal sports complex corruption charges.[33] He was eventually released after 90 days in custody, as the NAB failed to come up with a case against him.[34]
He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N fromNA-76 Narowal-II in the2024 Pakistani general election. He received 137,042 and defeated Javaid Safdar Kahlon, aIndependent politician, (PTI) SupportedPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.[35]
In May 2018, Chaudhary was shot and wounded at a political rally in his home constituency Narowal in an apparent assassination attempt. He was airlifted from Narowal to Lahore for surgery where he was said to be in stable condition.[36][37] The attacker, found to be linked withTehreek-e-Labaik, was arrested from the spot.[38][39] In his police statement he confessed that he tried to assassinate Chaudhry on the issue ofthe blasphemy laws.[40]
He has writtenop-eds forThe News International, an English-language daily newspaper.[41]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hafeez Pasha | Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan 1998—1999 | Succeeded by Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry |
| Preceded by | Minister for Minorities 2008—2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Javed Ashraf Qazi | Minister for Education 2008—2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Naveed Qamar | Minister for Planning and Development 2013—2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Dr. Nadeem Ul Haque | Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan 2013—2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Interior 2017—2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Planning and Development 2017—2018 | Succeeded by |
