Hafiz Abdul Kareem (; born 1 January 1960) is a Pakistani politician who served as Minister for Communications, in

Abbasi cabinet The Abbasi ministry was formed by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on 4 August 2017 to begin a new government following the disqualification of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif until the end of May 2018 when justice Nasirul Mulk took oath a ...

from August 2017 to May 2018. He has been a member of the

Senate of Pakistan Senate of Pakistan or Aiwān-e-Bālā Pākistān ( ur, , , literally "Pakistan upper house"), is the upper legislative chamber of the bicameral legislature of Pakistan, and together with the National Assembly makes up the Parliament of Pakista ...

since March 2018. Previously he had been 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 June 2013 to 2018.

Early life and education

He was born on 1 January 1960. He has completed

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...

level education.

Political career

He ran for the seat of the

as a candidate of

Pakistan Muslim League (N) The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Teh ...

(PML-N) from Constituency NA-172 (Dera Ghazi Khan-II) 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 ...

, but was unsuccessful. He received 41,894 votes and lost the seat to

Farooq Leghari Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari ( ur, ; 29 May 194020 October 2010), was a Pakistani politician who served as the eighth president of Pakistan from 14 November 1993 until resigning on 2 December 1997. He is the first Baloch to have been elected a ...

. He ran for the seat of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-172 (Dera Ghazi Khan-II) in by-election held in March 2011, but was unsuccessful. He received 41,894 votes and lost the seat to

Awais Leghari Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari (Urdu language, Urdu: اویس احمد خان لغاری‎; born 22 March 1971) is a Pakistani politician who is currently an Finance department, Punjab (Pakistan), Minister of Finance Department & Revenue Punjab ...

. He was elected to the

as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-172 (Dera Ghazi Khan-II) 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 ...

. He received 49,230 votes and defeated

Jamal Leghari Sardar Muhammad Jamal Khan Leghari is a Pakistani politician who was a Member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, from May 2013 to May 2018 and is the son of former president of Pakistan Farooq Leghari. Early life and family He was born on ...

. Following the election of

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Shahid Khaqan Abbasi ( ur, ; born 27 December 1958) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 21st prime minister of Pakistan from August 2017 to May 2018. Abbasi is the senior vice president of the Pakiatan Muslim League ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in August 2017, he was inducted into the federal cabinet of Abbasi and was appointed as federal minister for Communication for the first time. He was nominated by PML-N as its candidate in

2018 Pakistani Senate election The triennial Senate Elections of Pakistan were held on 3 March 2018 to replace 52 retiring senators - half of the Senate's strength - with the winning candidates serving six-year terms. Overall, Pakistan Muslim League (N) came out as the largest ...

. However the

Election Commission of Pakistan The Election Commission of Pakistan ( ur, ; ECP) is an independent, autonomous, permanent and constitutionally established federal body responsible for organizing and conducting elections to the national parliament, provincial legislatures, l ...

declared all PML-N candidates for the Senate election as independent after a ruling of the

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate a ...

. He was elected to the

as an independent candidate on a technocrat seat from Punjab in Senate election. He was backed in the election by PML-N and joined the treasury benches, led by PML-N after getting elected. He took oath as Senator on 12 March 2018. On 12 March 2018, he ceased to hold the office of Federal Minister for Communication due to resignation from the National Assembly. On 15 March 2018, he was re-inducted into the federal cabinet of

and was re-appointed as Federal Minister for Communications. Upon the dissolution of the National Assembly on the expiration of its term on 31 May 2018, Kareem ceased to hold the office as Federal Minister for Communications.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kareem, Hafiz Abdul Living people Pakistan Muslim League (N) politicians Punjabi people 1960 births Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018 Communications Ministers of Pakistan