Azra Fazal Pechuho (; born 21 February 1953) is a Pakistani politician who is the current Provincial Minister of Sindh for Health, and Population Welfare, in office since 19 August 2018. She has been a member of the

Provincial Assembly of Sindh The Provincial Assembly of Sindh ( ur, ) is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Sindh, and is located in Karachi, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of ...

since August 2018. She was a member of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...

, from 2002 to May 2018.

Early life and education

She was born on 21 February 1953 in

Larkana Larkana ( ur, , translit=lāṛkāna; sd, لاڙڪاڻو, translit=lāṛkāṇo) is a city located in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the 15th largest city of Pakistan by population. It is home to the Indus Valley civilization site Moh ...

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, Pakistan, to

Hakim Ali Zardari Hakim Ali Zardari (9 December 1930 – 24 May 2011), ur, ) was a Pakistani politician who served as a member of National Assembly of Pakistan from 1972 to 1977 and again from 1988 to 1990 and then again from 1993 to 1996. Early life He was ...

and Bilquis Sultana Zardari. She has two siblings, Asif Ali Zardari and Faryal Talpur. She is a physician by profession and has done MBBS from the Dow medical college.

Political career

Pechuho was elected to the

as a candidate of

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...

(PPP) from Constituency NA-213 (Nawabshah-I) in 2002 Pakistani general election. She received 75,237 votes and defeated Syed Zahid Hussain Shah, a candidate of

Pakistan Muslim League (Q) The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam Group) ur, ; ''Pākistān Muslim Līg (Qāf)'', Acronyms: PML(Q), PML-Q, PMLQ, "Q League") is a Conservative nationalist political party in Pakistan. As of the 2018 parliamentary election, it has a re ...

(PML-Q). She was not a popular politician until the

assassination of Benazir Bhutto The assassination of Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بھُٹو کا قتل) took place on 27 December 2007 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto, twice Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988–1990; 1993–1996) and then-leader of the oppositi ...

in 2007. After the assassination, she became the chancellor of

Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology SZABIST is a private institute with multiple campuses in the residential and commercial areas of Pakistan especially in the heart of Pakistan, Karachi, Islamabad, and United Arab Emirates. Its main campus is located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. O ...

(SZABIST). Pechuho was re-elected to the National Assembly from NA-213 (Nawabshah-I) as a candidate of PPP in

2008 Pakistani general election 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

. She received 108,404 votes and defeated Syed Zahid Hussain Shah, a candidate of

Pakistan Muslim League (F) The Pakistan Muslim League (F) ( ur, , acronym: PMLF, PML-F, PML (F)) is a nationalist and pro-Hurs clan political party in Pakistan. It is one of the Pakistan Muslim Leagues. The letter 'F' in its name stands for ''functional''. It is primarily ...

(PML-F). Pechuho was re-elected to the National Assembly from Constituency NA-213 (Nawabshah-I) as a candidate of PPP in

2013 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on Saturday 11 May 2013 to elect the members of the 14th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. The three major parties were the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) led by Nawaz Sharif, t ...

. She received 113,199 votes and defeated Inayat Ali Rind, a candidate of

Muttahida Qaumi Movement Muttahida Qaumi Movement (abbreviated MQM) is a name currently claimed by two competing Pakistani political factions: * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London, a political faction managed from the UK * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan Muttah ...

(MQM). She was elected to the

as a candidate of PPP from Constituency PS-37 (Shaheed Benazirabad-I) in

2018 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on Wednesday, 25 July 2018 to elect the members of 15th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. The three major parties Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan, the Pakistan Muslim ...

. On 19 August, she was inducted into the provincial Sindh cabinet of Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and was made Provincial Minister of Sindh for Health with the additional ministerial portfolio of Population Welfare.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pechuho, Azra Living people 1953 births Pakistani MNAs 2002–2007 Pakistani MNAs 2008–2013 Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018 Women members of the National Assembly of Pakistan Zardari family Pakistan People's Party MPAs (Sindh) Sindh MPAs 2018–2023 21st-century Pakistani women politicians