Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi
| Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi چودہری پرویز الہی | |
|---|---|
| Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan | |
|
In office 25 June 2012 – 16 March 2013 | |
| President | Asif Zardari |
| Prime Minister | Pervez Ashraf |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Vacant |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
|
In office 25 March 2008 – 17 September 2008 | |
| President | Asif Zardari |
| Prime Minister | Yousaf Raza Gillani |
| Preceded by | Fazal-ur-Rehman |
| Succeeded by | Nisar Ali Khan |
| Chief Minister of Punjab | |
|
In office 29 November 2002 – 18 November 2007 | |
| President | Pervez Musharraf |
| Prime Minister | Shaukat Aziz |
| Governor | Khalid Maqbool |
| Preceded by | Shahbaz Sharif |
| Succeeded by | Ejaz Nisar (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
1 November 1945 Gujrat, Punjab Province, Pakistan |
| Citizenship |
 Pakistan |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Political party | Pakistan Muslim League(Q) |
| Children |
Monis Elahi Son |
| Residence |
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Cousin |
| Alma mater | Forman Christian College University |
| Profession | Business executive, politician |
| Religion | Islam |
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi (Punjabi, Urdu: چودہری پرویز الہی b. 1 November 1945), is a Pakistani politician, and textile industrialist. He is noted of being the first and to-date only Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan, politically appointed in this posture by President Asif Zardari in 2013.
After a successful campaign in the 2002 general elections, he subsequently became the Chief Minister of Punjab Province and tenured until 2007. Contesting well in the general elections in 2008, he served as the leader of the opposition in the Parliament for short time being when his party made an alliance with the PPP. He secured his victory in general elections in 2013, and as of current he is provincial president of PML(Q).[1] His family also remains in active in politics, and is a first cousin of Shujaat Hussain.
Insight biography
Education and business career
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was born in an industrialist family in Gujrat, Punjab Province of Pakistan, on 1 November 1945 in Gujrat,Pakistan. Elahi hails from a power industrialist family; his father Manzoor Elahi is the brother of Zahor Illahi.[2] After enrolling at the Forman Christian College University in 1963, he graduated with BA degree in 1967.[2] At an instance of his father, he went to United Kingdom to obtained master's diploma in Industrial Management from Watford College of Technology in London in 1971.[2] After completing his education, Pervaiz Elahi joined the family business empire with his cousin Shujaat Hussain.[2] Elahi's political motivation began in 1977 in an animosity of nationalisation program of PPP.[3]
Political campaigns
After the assassination of his uncle Zahoor Elahi in 1981, he came in politics in 1983, first contesting for the local body elections. In 1985, he successfully contested for Punjab Assembly during the general elections held in 1985 as an independent and joined the PML the following year.[4] He participated well during the election years of 1988, 1990, and 1993; all of which, Elahi has gained considerable experience in provincial governance – he has served as chairman of Gujrat's district council, minister for local government, opposition leader in Punjab Assembly and speaker in Punjab Assembly.[4]
Political career
He was elected as chairman District Council, Gujrat for the four years in 1983.[5]
Election 1985
In 1985 he got elected unopposed as Member of Provincial Assembly of Punjab.[5]
Minister for local government and rural development
HE became Minister for Local Government and Rural Development for a period of eight years. (1985–88, 1988–90 and 1990–93) .[5]
Election 1993
He was Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly during 1993–96, and also the Leader of the Opposition later.[5]
Speaker of provincial assembly
He was elected unopposed Speaker of Provincial Assembly of Punjab in 1997.(1997–99 ) [5]
Rift with PML(N)
He had been an important financier in PML led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.[6] However, the decisive rift between Elahi and the Sharif came in 1997, after Nawaz achieved a thumping victory that year in the election. Elahi had been promised the post of Punjab chief minister in return for contributing significantly to the election campaign.[6] However, the powerful industrialist was instead made speaker while Nawaz's brother, Shahbaz, took over the reins as Punjab chief minister.[6] The decision to remain with the PML-N in 1997, despite differences with the Sharif, was largely due to the his distaste for the Pakistan Peoples Party— a rivalry that pre-dates the current generation.[6] The Elahi hold Benazir Bhutto's brother responsible for the death of Ch. Shujaat Hussain's father and for the imprisonment and torture of Ch.Pervaiz Elahi's father during the elder Bhutto's tenure as prime minister.[6]
By 1999, the differences were arise that Elahi decided to defect to dissident group led by various libertarians at that time.[6] Following the 1999 military takeover, both Pervaiz and Shujaat Hussain were detained by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on corruption charges relating to unpaid state-owned bank loans that were made to their corporations.[6]
However, the charges against both were dropped following an agreement they made to defect from the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz and assist President Musharraf in building a new centre-right Muslim League in Punjab.[6]
President PML Q Punjab
He is the elected President of Pakistan Muslim League, Punjab. On 24 July 2006 he was elected, second time unopposed, the President of the PML for next three years.
Election 2002
In the general election 2002, he was elected Member of the Punjab Assembly for the 6th consecutive term.
2002 general elections and tenure
Under a new deal, he participated well in general elections held in 2002 with a dissident group platform.[6] Elahi came to known as notable and famed libertarian who joined President Pervez Musharraf in 2002.[6] Ultimately, he was appointed as Chief Minister of Punjab Province of Pakistan in 2002.[6] His notable political achievements include reforms in the education sector which led to the literacy rate increasing from 47% in 2002, to 62% in 2007 in the province. It included free Education in public schools up to Metric, free Distribution of 28 million books in all public schools, stipend for 1.1 million girls in 15 low literacy districts, provision of 118276 missing facilities in 63882 schools, 50000 graduate teachers recruited and 275 schools upgraded/established and teacher's training for 122087 teachers in 2007/08. These steps were endorsed and appreciated by various donor agencies such as World Bank. His other notable achievement include setting up Pervaiz Elahi Institute of Cardiology in Multan, University of Gujrat in Gujrat, Traffic Wardens system in Lahore, Rescue 1122 service in Punjab, water course brick lining and Lahore Ring Road Project.[7]
Chief Minister of Punjab
He served the Punjab province as Chief Minister from October 2002 to October 2007. He has been praised for making great contributions to agriculture and irrigation, education, health, IT, public sector development, infrastructure, supply of gas and electricity and law and order while serving as Chief Minister of Punjab. He has also faced criticism for the appointment of cronies. For the first time in Punjab, all citizens were offered all levels of health care and medical facilities completely free of cost.Thousand of water courses were bricklined. For the first time in Lahore, traffic was controlled by traffic wardens.
2008 general elections and Deputy Prime Minister
He elected for National and Provincial Assemblies in February 2008 Elections.Elahi was a close adviser of President Musharraf, and is regularly consulted by him on political strategy.[7] This advice, however, is not always followed— leading to a certain degree of tension in their relationship.[7] Elahi believes that if he and Shujaat had been listened to, the entire Chief Justice episode and the state of emergency could have been avoided.[7] In 2008, he defended his seat during the 2008 general elections and was nominated by the PML(Q) leadership as the leader of the Opposition in the Parliament.[9]
This was short lived after he suddenly and unexpectedly quit this post later that year in September, allegedly over a possible power sharing deal with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the government.[9] In 2011, meanwhile, when PML-Q entered into an alliance with a needy PPP, a longstanding demand of the party was fulfilled and Elahi was awarded the post of deputy prime minister. This, however, was a ceremonial position with no extra powers.[4] Before being made deputy prime minister, Elahi had served as a federal minister for industries and production in ex-premier Yousuf Raza Gilani's cabinet.[4] Preceding this formal alliance, the Chaudhrys of PML-Q and the Bhuttos of PPP have had a history of bitter political enmity.[4] Even after the alliance, relations between the two parties remained rocky, and as a result Elahi stayed cautious in his dealings with PPP.[4]
2013 general elections
During the general elections held in 2013, Pervez Elahi won from the Gujrat constituency.[10] According to the results, Elahi successfully retained his seat and secured his way to be a member of parliament.[11]
Political philosophy
Pervaiz Elahi has raised his strong support for libertarianism and has been a staunch vocalist of political philosophy of "enlightened moderation".[7] In public debates, he debated swift, decisive law enforcement action against terrorism.[7] Senior law-enforcement officials, who worked with Elahi as Chief Minister, claim that he gave clear instructions that significant resources were to be devoted to infiltrating and dismantling terrorist organisations and to monitoring and curtailing the activities of religious leaders believed to have extremist tendencies. Under his leadership, were successful in bringing down a number of terrorist cells in the province.[7]
Elahi has used this influence to encourage reform within Punjabs madrassas and obtain strong statements from these leaders condemning terrorist violence and declaring its un-Islamic.[7] Absent the support he enjoyed in these quarters, it is doubtful that the government could have proceeded with its admittedly incomplete religious-reform agenda.[7]
Controversy
Elahi earned notoriety when the news became to circulate in television news channels that "in 1979, Zahoor Elahi is believed to have encouraged President General Zia-ul-Haq to have Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto executed.[6] Rumours in Lahore is that Zahoor Elahi (Father of Ch. Shujjat Hussain) loaned President Zia his pen to sign Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's death warrant. Pervaiz Elahi ostensibly purchased the same pen at an auction some years later.[6]
He and his cousin, Shujaat Hussain, are believed to have actively opposed a pre-electoral deal devised between Benazir Bhutto and President Musharraf in Sept 2007, largely due to their personal animosity for Bhutto.[6] Since her death, Elahi, in conversation, has suggested that he would be able to form a solid working relationship with either of her likely successors, Amin Faheem or Asif Ali Zardari.[6]
In 2012, Elahi's name has also been associated with a fraud scandal, involving his approval of an illegal merger between a private housing scheme and Bahria Town.[12]
References
- ↑ http://tribune.com.pk/story/399907/pakistans-creation-pointless-if-it-fails-to-become-islamic-welfare-state/
- 1 2 3 4 "Ch. Pervaiz Elahi". Pakistan Herald. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ Rahimullah Yusufzai (1 January 2008). "When politics becomes bitter". Jang News. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Heba Islam (d). "Dawn Profile: CP Elahi". Dawn news; Pervez Illahi. Retrieved 9 July 2013. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - 1 2 3 4 5 Times, Pakistan. "Pakistan Times". http://www.pakistantimes.com/topics/chaudhry-pervez-elahi/. External link in
|website=(help) - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 From the Newspapers (10 December 2010). "Dawn news part I". Dawn news part I. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Nawaz went back on his promise to Pervaiz". Dawn news, Part II. 10 December 2010.
- ↑ Times, Pakistan. "Pakistan Times". http://www.pakistantimes.com/topics/chaudhry-pervez-elahi/. Retrieved 30 June 2015. External link in
|website=(help) - 1 2 Ahmed Hassan (9 September 2008). "Pervaiz resigns as Leader of Opposition in NA". Dawn news, area studies. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ Wasim Ashraf Butt (29 January 2013). "Pervaiz Elahi to run for NA-105". Dawn. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ Front News desk (12 May 2013). "Pervez Elahi wins NA-105 seat". Dunya News. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ "Land merger with Bahria Town: LHC to hear case on daily basis". Dawn news, 2012. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Shahbaz Sharif |
Chief Minister of Punjab 2002–2007 |
Succeeded by Ejaz Nisar Acting |
| Preceded by Fazal-ur-Rehman |
Leader of the Opposition 2008 |
Succeeded by Nisar Ali Khan |
| New office | Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan 2012–present |
Incumbent |
|  | ||