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Parvez Elahi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| PresidentofPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | |
| Assumed office 7 March 2023 | |
| Chairman | Imran Khan Gohar Ali Khan |
| Preceded by | Javed Hashmi |
| 5thDeputy Prime Minister of Pakistan | |
| In office 25 June 2012 – 29 June 2013 | |
| President | Asif Zardari |
| Prime Minister | Raja Pervaiz Ashraf |
| Preceded by | Nisar Ali Khan (as Senior Minister) |
| Succeeded by | Ishaq Dar |
| 20thFederal Minister for Industries | |
| In office 3 May 2011 – 30 November 2013 | |
| President | Asif Ali Zardari Mamnoon Hussain |
| Prime Minister | Yusuf Raza Gillani Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Nawaz Sharif |
| Federal Minister for Defence Production | |
| In office May 2011 – June 2012 | |
| 7thLeader of the Opposition | |
| In office 10 April 2008 – 16 September 2008 | |
| President | |
| Prime Minister | Yusuf Raza Gillani |
| Preceded by | Fazal-ur-Rehman |
| Succeeded by | Nisar Ali Khan |
| ActingGovernor of Punjab | |
| In office 18 August 2018 – 5 September 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Rafique Rajwana |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad Sarwar |
| 14th & 18thChief Minister of Punjab | |
| In office 27 July 2022 – 22 January 2023 | |
| Governor | Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman |
| Preceded by | Hamza Shahbaz |
| Succeeded by | Mohsin Raza Naqvi (caretaker) |
| In office 29 November 2002 – 18 November 2007 | |
| Governor | Khalid Maqbool |
| Preceded by | Shehbaz Sharif |
| Succeeded by | Ejaz Nisar (acting) |
| 17th & 20thSpeaker of Punjab Assembly | |
| In office 19 February 1997 – 12 October 1999 | |
| Preceded by | Hanif Ramay |
| Succeeded by | Muhammad Afzal Sahi |
| In office 16 August 2018 – 26 July 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan |
| Succeeded by | Muhammad Sibtain Khan |
| ActingLeader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly | |
| In office 20 October 1993 – 16 November 1996 | |
| Leader | Shehbaz Sharif |
| Minister for Local Bodies and Rural Development ofPunjab | |
| In office 9 April 1985 – 25 April 1993 | |
| Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan | |
| In office 1 June 2013 – 31 May 2018 | |
| Constituency | NA-105 (Gujrat-II) |
| In office 17 March 2008 – 16 March 2013 | |
| Constituency | NA-58 (Attock-II) |
| Member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab | |
| In office 15 August 2018 – 14 January 2023 | |
| Constituency | PP-30 (Gujrat-III) |
| In office 25 November 2002 – 17 November 2007 | |
| Constituency | PP-292 (Rahimyar Khan-VIII) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1945-11-01)1 November 1945 (age 79)[1] Gujrat,Punjab,British India |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Political party | PTI (2023–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Children | 2, includingMoonis Elahi |
| Relatives | SeeChaudhry family |
| Education | |
| Website | parvezelahi |
Chaudhry Parvez Elahi Warraich[a] (Urdu,Punjabi:چوہدری پرویز الٰہی وڑائچ; born 1 November 1945) is aPakistani politician who was theChief Minister of Punjab from late 2002 to late 2007 and again from late 2022 to early 2023. He was a member of theProvincial Assembly of the Punjab from August 2018 till January 2023, when he, as chief minister, dissolved the assembly. In 2023, he left thePakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML(Q)) and joinedPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) along with his son,Moonis Elahi, and 10 other former PML(Q) MPAs over political rifts with the party president and cousin,Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. He was appointed as, and is currently serving as the president of the PTI. He also served as the president of the Punjab Division of the PML(Q).[2]
He served as the FirstDeputy Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2013. After a successful campaign in the 2002general elections, he became theChief Minister ofPunjab and held this position until 2007. In 2008, he briefly served as the leader of the opposition in theNational Assembly of Pakistan. He remained a member of the National Assembly for two terms, from 2008 to May 2018. He has also been theSpeaker of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from 2018 to 2022. In a major development in late February 2023, Parvez Elahi announced joiningImran Khan-led party along with 10 of his party's former MPAs. On 7 March 2023, Parvez Elahi was appointed as President of thePakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.[3]
Chaudhry Parvez Elahi was born 1 November 1945[4][5][1] inGujrat,Punjab[6] to industrialist Chaudhry Manzoor Elahi. He hails from a family of politicians[6] and industrialists of Gujrat.[7][1][8] He belongs to aPunjabi muslim family ofJat origin.[9][10][11]
His father Chaudhry Manzoor was non-political, unlike his younger brotherChaudhry Zahoor, concentrating on his business in thetextile industry, being active inLudhiana and thenAmritsar after earning hisB.Sc. Engineering but having to move back to his native village of Natt in Gujrat due to the1947 partition. He had two daughters and three sons: Parvez, Javed, who looked after the family business, and Sabahat, who has resided inThailand, being engaged in carpet manufacturing. Chaudhry Manzoor died in 2005, at the age of 90.[12]
Parvez received his early education fromForman Christian College, Lahore until 1967[1][6] and later attendedWatford College of Technology[7] from where he received hisDiploma inIndustrial Management.[1]
Parvez is a cousin of former Prime Minister of PakistanChaudhry Shujaat Hussain and is married to his sister, with whom he has two sons,Moonis Elahi and Rasikh Elahi.[6][7] While his younger son Moonis is also a well known politician, his elder son Rasikh has been described as “aSufi religious scholar, who avoids politics and public appearances.”[13]
His brother-in-law Ashraf Marth, who served as theSSPGujranwala, was assassinated in 1997 byLashkar-e-Jhangvi militants.[14]
Outside Chaudhry Shujaat, his brothers and their sons, Parvez’s other relatives in politics include Chaudhry Tajamal Hussain, the cousin of his father who has been an MNA, and whose own son Chaudhry Mubashar Hussain is a politician as well.[15]
Parvez began his political career after being elected as the chairman of the district council of Gujrat[6][16] for four years in 1983. He served as Provincial Minister[6][16] for Local Government and Rural Development for eight years[1] from 1985 to 1993. He was elected as a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab for the first time in1985, again in1988,1990, and1993. He also served as the acting leader of the opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from 1993
During the late 1980s and 1990sPakistani politics was dominated by two movements, theconservative, right-wingIslamic Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) led byNawaz Sharif, and the moreleft-wingPakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led byBenazir Bhutto. Parvez Elahi and the Chaudhry family followed a more traditionalist and conservative outlook, therefore Parvez and Shujaat Hussain sided with Nawaz Sharif and both joined the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad from 1985 to 1993, until joining the IJI’s successor, thePML-N.[6]
Several cases were registered against Pervaiz duringBenazir Bhutto's government in 1993-1996 and he was sent toAdiala Jail where he spent several months.[17] He enjoyed the services of Mentorship of Barrister Ijaz Hussain Batalvi and his legal team including M.A. Zafar, Nawaz Bhatti andAkhtar Aly Kureshy Advocates. He also appointedAkhtar Aly Kureshy as legal Advisor toProvincial Assembly of the Punjab when he wasSpeakerPunjab Assembly.
It was reported that Nawaz Sharif had promised Parvez that if PML-N won the1997 Pakistani general election, Pervaiz would be made the chief minister of Punjab. However, when PML-N won the 1997 general elections, Nawaz appointed his brother Shahbaz Sharif as the Chief Minister of Punjab. To avoid the impression that Pervaiz was unhappy with this decision of Nawaz Sharif, Pervaiz supported Shahbaz Sharif for the position of Chief Minister, however, he decided not to join the provincial cabinet of Shahbaz Sharif.[16][6][18] He was re-elected as a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab for the fifth time in 1997 and was elected as the speaker of Provincial Assembly of Punjab[1][6][16][18] in 1997 where he remained until June 2001.[19]
Following the1999 military coup, he was detained by theNational Accountability Bureau on corruption charges. The charges were dropped following an agreement he made to quit thePakistan Muslim League (N), whose part he had been until the ouster of thePML-N government,[18][16] and assist PresidentPervez Musharraf in building thePML-Q.[7]
He along with his cousinShujaat and other dissidents left PML-N to form their own party,PML-Q, of which he became a top member.[1][6][16] He was re-elected as a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab for the sixth time in the2002 Punjab provincial election.[1] Following the elections, Parvez was elected as theChief Minister of Punjab for the first time,[18][16] an office he served from October 2002 until October 2007.[18][1]
Parvez Elahi was sworn in as Chief Minister of Punjab on 29 November, 2002 while most of the ministers inhis provincial cabinet were sworn in January 2003.[20][21] His first tenure oversaw a period of political stability with him holding the Military-backedPresident,Governor andPrime Minister's support. Because of this, he was able to serve a full tenure, and was able to initiate many programs and initiatives. His provincial cabinet was composed largely of new politicians from the PML (Q), includingMuhammad Basharat Raja,Mian Aslam Iqbal,Aleem Khan andSibtain Khan while his governor would beKhalid Maqbool, appointed byPervez Musharraf.
AsChief Minister of Punjab, Parvez initiated several initiatives to develop the province, including theMultan Institute of Cardiology, which Elahi founded and worked to establish. Some of his most successful projects include theRescue 1122 helpline system, theUniversity of Gujrat, theLahore Ring Road and several other irrigation and social projects that were founded in his tenure. He has received appraisal for his work as Chief Minister.[22][23]
In 2004, his administration introduced the Female Secondary School Stipend program as part of the Punjab Education Sector Reforms Programme (PESRP). The program aimed to improve female enrollment in public schools, focusing on 15 of Punjab's lowest-literacydistricts. Evaluations conducted by theWorld Bank usingdifference-in-difference (DD) andregression-discontinuity design (RDD) analyses indicated a 9% increase in female enrollments and an average addition of six female students per school between 2003 and 2005. However, enrollment rates had already been rising prior to the program's implementation, suggesting the FSSS program was one of several factors contributing to this trend. Additionally, the evaluations primarily assessed enrollment impacts, with less emphasis on broader educational outcomes such as learning quality or test scores. This initiative was part of broader efforts to enhance education access and quality inPunjab.[24]
In the2008 Pakistani general election, Pervaiz was elected as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the first time and as a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab for the seventh time.[1] ThePML-Q nominated Pervaiz as its candidate for the post of prime minister of Pakistan following the 2008 general elections.[18] Following the election, he was made the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, however he quit this post later that year.[1][6][25] He was made Federal Minister for Defence Production and Industries in theYousuf Raza Gilani cabinet.[26][6][1]
In 2011, a ceremonial post was created to appoint Parvez as the first deputy prime minister of Pakistan,[27] having no powers even in the absence of the prime minister of Pakistan.[26][6] In the2013 Pakistani general election, Pervaiz contested and won election from NA-105, a National Assembly constituency in Gujrat[6][28] defeating candidates of PPP and PML-N.[29][10]
He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate ofPML-Q fromNA-65 (Chakwal-II) andNA-69 (Gujrat-II) in the2018 Pakistani general election. In the same election, he was re-elected to theProvincial Assembly of Punjab as a candidate ofPML-Q from PP-30 (Gujrat-III).[30] Following his successful election, he abandoned his National Assembly seats in favor of his provincial assembly seat.[31]
He was named byPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) andPML-Q as their joint candidate for the office ofSpeaker of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab.[32] On 16 August 2018, he was elected as Speaker of the Punjab Assembly. He received 201 votes against his opponentMuhammad Iqbal Gujjar who secured 147 votes.[33][34] On 19 August 2018, he became the acting governor of Punjab[35] following the resignation ofRafique Rajwana.[36]
In March 2022,Imran Khan nominated Parvez Elahi as a candidate for the post ofChief Minister of Punjab after the incumbentUsman Buzdar resigned. After a four-month longconstitutional crisis, he took oath as the 18th Chief Minister of Punjab on 27 July. During his second tenure as Chief Minister, he approved schemes worth Rs.15 Billion in order to provide quality and up-to-date medical services and equipment to areas ofPunjab including hospitals inMultan,Faisalabad andGujrat.[37] He also approved the upgrade of hospital wards and the distribution of free medicines across the province.[38]
On 22 December, theGovernor of Punjab,Balighur Rehman, denotified Elahi from his position, citing his failure to take a vote of confidence from theProvincial Assembly, which the Governor had requested, as the reason for the de notification.[39] However, Elahi was restored by theLahore High Court on 23 December 2022.
On 12 January 2023, after securing victory in a vote of confidence the night before, Parvez sent a letter to Governor Balighur Ur Rehman, advising him to dissolve the Provincial Assembly.[40] On 22 January, he was replaced as Chief Minister byMohsin Raza Naqvi, who was appointed by theElection Commission of Pakistan to lead acaretaker government.[41]
In late February 2023, Parvez Elahi announced joining theImran Khan-led PTI party along with 10 of his party's formerMPAs. His decision was said to have marked a split between him and his cousinShujaat Hussain.[42]
In March 2023, Parvez Elahi was appointed as President ofPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf by Imran Khan after Elahi had reassured support for the party following its2022 ousting from power.[42] In June 2023, Elahi was arrested on charges of illegally appointing officers in the Punjab Assembly when he was Chief Minister and detained inRawalpindi. Elahi denied the charges, calling it political persecution.[43]
He was stated to be in the run for a seat in the Punjab Assembly fromPP-34 Gujrat-VII as a candidate of the PTI in the2024 Punjab provincial election.[44] Due to his imprisonment he was unable to contest in the elections, and instead, Parvez’s wife,Qaisara Elahi ran in his place fromPP-32 Gujrat-VI andNA-64 Gujrat-III against their nephew,Chaudhry Salik Hussain.[45] Officially, Qaisara lost both seats though both Qaisara and Parvez claimed that the seat was rigged. Qaisara filed petitions in theSupreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) andElection Commission of Pakistan (ECP), in which she stated that she won as perForm 45s.[46][47]
During his imprisonment, he faced several medical issues, the biggest of which was a major spinal fracture after falling in a jail washroom.[48][49] He was released from jail on bail in May 2024.[43]
Media related toChaudhry Pervaiz Elahi at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related toParvez Elahi at Wikiquote| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Chief Minister of Punjab 2002–2007 | Succeeded by
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| Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition 2008 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan 2012–2013 | Succeeded by |
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Italics indicate acting chief ministers | ||
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