Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Pakistani politician who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Punjab and the President of Pakistan Muslim League (Q), a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

party. His term as Chief Minister began on 27 July 2022. He has been a member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab since August 2018. He served as the

Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan The Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan, officially the Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, ) was the second most senior minister of the Republic of the Government of Pakistan. The main purpose of the post was to give ...

in 2013. After a successful campaign in the 2002

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, he became the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

and held this position until 2007. In 2008, he served as the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly of Pakistan for short time. He was a member of the National Assembly from 2008 to May 2018. He has also been the

Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab The Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab (Urdu: اسپیکر پنجاب اسمبلی) is the presiding official of the Punjab Assembly. Informally, the Speaker is also called Speaker Punjab Assembly. The office originated in 1921, ...

from 2018 to 2022. He is the president of the Punjab Division of Pakistan Muslim League (Q).

Early life and education

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was born 1 November 1945 in Gujrat,

to the industrialist Chaudhry Manzoor Elahi Warraich. Elahi was born into Punjabi

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

family of Warraich clan. He hails from a family of politicians and industrialists of Gujrat. Chaudhary received his early education from

Forman Christian College Forman Christian College is an private liberal arts university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church. The university follows an American-style curriculum. Founded in 1864 by America ...

, Lahore until 1967 and later attended Watford College of Technology from where he received his Diploma in Industrial Management. He is a cousin of former Prime Minister of Pakistan

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain ( pa, ; ur, ; (born 27 January 1940) is a senior Pakistani politician from a Punjabi Jat family of Gujrat who previously served as 16th prime minister of Pakistan. Hussain is the party president of the Pakistan ...

Personal life

He is married to the daughter of his uncle

Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi (1917 - 25 September 1981) was a Pakistani politician who rose to prominence from a small town of Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan. Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi began his career in the police force as a constable but gave it up soon after ...

. He has two sons,

Moonis Elahi Chaudhry Moonis Elahi ( ur, ; born 12 April 1976) is a Pakistani politician from Punjabi Jatt Warraich family. who has been a Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since October 2018. He was Minister for Water Resources (Pakistan) ...

and Rasikh Elahi.

Political career

Elahi began his political career after being elected as the chairman of the district council of Gujrat for the four years in 1983. He served as Provincial Minister for Local Government and Rural Development for a period of eight years from 1985 to 1993. He was elected as a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab for the first time in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, second time in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, third time in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

, and fourth time in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

. He also served as the acting leader of the opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from 1993 to 1996, in the absence of

Shahbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: , ; born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who is currently serving as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, in office since 11 April 2022. He is the current president of ...

who had gone to the United Kingdom for medical treatment. Several cases were registered against Elahi during Benazir Bhutto's government in 1993-1996 and he was sent to

Adiala Jail Central Jail Rawalpindi (also known as Adiala Jail) is a prominent prison in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. History The Central Jail Rawalpindi was built from the late 1970s and early 1980s during the military regime of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, aft ...

where he spent several months. It was reported that Nawaz Sharif had promised Elahi that if PML-N won the 1997 Pakistani general election, Elahi 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 Elahi was unhappy with this decision of Nawaz Sharif. Elahi supported Shahbaz Sharif for the position of Chief Minister however decided not to join the provincial cabinet of Shahbaz Sharif. 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 in 1997 where he remained until June 2001. Following the 1999 coup he was detained by the

National Accountability Bureau The National Accountability Bureau ( ur, ; abbreviated NAB) is an autonomous and constitutionally established federal institution responsible to build efforts against corruption and prepare critical national economic intelligence assessments ...

on corruption charges. Charges were dropped following an agreement they made to defect from the Pakistan Muslim League (N) with whom he had been part of until the ouster of the

PML-N The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a centre-right and liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Part ...

government and assist President

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

in building

PML-Q The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam Group) ur, ; ''Pākistān Muslim Līg (Qāf)'', Acronym and initialism, Acronyms: PML(Q), PML-Q, PMLQ, "Q League") is a Conservative Nationalism in Pakistan, nationalist political party in Pakistan. A ...

. He along with his cousin Shujaat and other dissidents left PML-N to form their own party,

. He was re-elected as a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab for the sixth time in 2002 Pakistani general election. Following the elections, Elahi was appointed as the chief minister of Punjab for the first time where he served from October 2002 until the dissolution of the provincial government in October 2007. In the 2008 Pakistani general election, Elahi was elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the first time and as the member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab for the seventh time.

nominated Elahi as its candidate for the post of prime ministers of Pakistan following the 2008 general elections. In 2008, he was made the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, however he quit this post later that year. He was made Federal Minister for Defence Production and Industries in

Yousuf Raza Gilani Yusuf Raza Gilani (Urdu: ; born 9 June 1952), is a Pakistani politician who served as 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 25 March 2008, until his retroactive disqualification and ouster by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 26 April 2012. He ...

cabinet. In 2011, the ceremonial post of deputy prime minister of Pakistan was created to appoint Elahi as the first deputy prime minister of Pakistan having no powers even in the absence of the prime minister of Pakistan. In 2013 Pakistani general election, Elahi ran for seat of National Assembly from the NA-105 Gujrat constituency and won it defeating candidates of PPP and PML-N. He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of

from

NA-65 (Chakwal-II) NA-59 Chakwal-cum-Talagang () is a constituency for the National Assembly of Pakistan. It was previously known as (1988–2002) NA-44 Chakwal-II, (2002–2018) NA-61 Chakwal-II and (2018-2022) NA-65 Chakwal-II. Members of Parliament 1988–2002 ...

and

NA-69 (Gujrat-II) NA-65 (Gujrat-IV) () is a constituency for the National Assembly of Pakistan. Members of Parliament 2018-2022: NA-69 (Gujrat-II) Election 2002 General elections were held on 10 Oct 2002. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain of PML-Q won by 66,809 votes. ...

in the 2018 Pakistani general election. In the same election, he was re-elected to the

Provincial Assembly of Punjab The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Punjab, which is located in Lahore, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Paki ...

as a candidate of

from PP-30 (Gujrat-III). Following his successful election, he abandoned his national assembly seats in favor of the provincial assembly seat. He was named by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and

as their joint candidate for the office of

. On 16 August 2018, he was elected as Speaker of the Punjab Assembly. He received 201 votes against his opponent Muhammad Iqbal Gujjar who secured 147 votes. On 19 August 2018, he became acting governor of Punjab following the resignation of Rafique Rajwana. In March 2022,

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

nominated Pervez Elahi as a candidate for the post of Chief Minister of Punjab after the resignation of

Usman Buzdar Sardar Usman Ahmad Khan Buzdar ( ur, ; born 1 May 1969) is a Pakistani politician and previously served as Chief Minister of The Punjab from 20 August 2018 to 30 April 2022. He has been a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab since Aug ...

. After a four-month long

constitutional crisis In political science, a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variations to this ...

, he took oath as the 18th Chief Minister of Punjab on 27 July 2022, at

Aiwan-e-Sadr The Aiwan-e-Sadr ( ur, ), or Presidential Palace, is the official residence and workplace of the President of Pakistan. It is located in northeastern Islamabad on Constitution Avenue, between the Parliament Building and the Cabinet block of t ...

Islamabad. On 22 December 2022, the Governor of Punjab, Balighur Rehman, denotified Elahi from his position, citing his failure to take a vote of confidence from the

Provincial Assembly Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

, which the Governor requested, as the reason behind his action.https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1022743-punjab-cabinet-stands-dissolved-as-parvez-elahi-denotified However, he was restored by the

Lahore High Court The Lahore High Court () is based in Lahore, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over Punjab (Pakistan). The High Court's principal seat is in Lahore, but there are benches in th ...

on 23 December 2022.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Elahi, Chaudhry Pervaiz Living people 1945 births Pakistani prisoners and detainees Pakistani businesspeople Punjab MPAs 1985–1988 Punjab MPAs 1988–1990 Punjab MPAs 1990–1993 Punjab MPAs 1993–1996 Punjab MPAs 1997–1999 Punjab MPAs 2002–2007 Pakistani MNAs 2008–2013 Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018 Pakistan Muslim League (N) MPAs (Punjab) Pakistan Muslim League (Q) MPAs (Punjab) Pakistan Muslim League (Q) MNAs Government of Shaukat Aziz Deputy Prime Ministers of Pakistan Speakers of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab Punjabi people Chaudhry family Chief Ministers of Punjab, Pakistan Forman Christian College alumni Leaders of the Opposition (Pakistan) Politicians from Gujrat, Pakistan Punjab MPAs 2018–2023