Sardar Ayaz Sadiq (
Punjabi, ur, ; born 17 October 1954) is a Pakistani politician, currently serving as
Federal Minister of Law and Justice and has been a member of the
National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018. Previously, he was a member of the National Assembly from 2002 to May 2018. He served as the 19th
Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan
The Speaker of the National Assembly (Urdu: اسپیکر قومی اسمبلی); informally as Speaker National Assembly, is the presiding official of the National Assembly of Pakistan– a lower house of the Parliament of Pakistan.
The off ...
from June 2013 to August 2015 and again from November 2015 to August 2018.
Early life and education
Sadiq was born on 17 October 1954 in Lahore to Chaudhry Sardar Muhammad Sadiq and Attiya Sadiq.
He belongs to Arain family hailing from Kasur, Punjab.
He completed his education from
Aitchison College, Lahore.
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 ...
,
Nisar Ali Khan
Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan ( ur, ; born 31 July 1954) is a Pakistani politician who served as the Interior Minister from 2013 to 2017. He is currently an independent member-of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab - elected to represent PP-10 (Rawa ...
,
Pervaiz Khattak
Pervez Khan Khattak ( ur, ; ps, پروېز خان خټک; born 1 January 1950) is a Pakistani politician and a member of PTI who served as the Defence Minister of Pakistan from 20 August 2018 until the dissolution of National Assembly on 3 ...
,
Sardar Akhtar Mengal
Akhtar Mengal (born 6 October 1962) is a politician from Balochistan who is the chairman of Balochistan National Party (Mengal). He previously served as the Chief Minister of Balochistan between 1997 and 1998 and later he served as a member of t ...
and
Zulfiqar Ali Magsi
Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi (Urdu: ), (born 14 February 1954 in Jhal Magsi, Balochistan, Dominion of Pakistan) was the 20th Governor of Balochistan Province since 28 February 2008 to 9 June 2013 as well as the chief executive of Balochistan since ...
were amongst his class fellows when Sadiq was enrolled in Aitchison College.
In an interview, Sadiq said he was an average student.
Sadiq received degree in commerce from Hailey College of
Punjab University in 1975.
Sadiq married to Reema Ayaz in 1977, and has a daughter and two sons.
Sadiq is a son-in-law of former Chief Justice of Lahore High Court Sardar Iqbal.
Since 1996, Sadiq has been a member of the Lahore Gymkhana Club.
Sadiq is a businessman by profession and has had business contracts with
Pakistan Railways
Pakistan Railways ( ur, ) is the national, state-owned railway company of Pakistan. Founded in 1861 and headquartered in Lahore, it owns of track across Pakistan, stretching from Torkham to Karachi, offering both freight and passenger servi ...
.
He along with members of his family runs a non-profit hospital "Sardar Trust Eye Hospital" in Lahore.
Political career
Sadiq began his political career as a member of the
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the late 1990s
when he was a close friend of PTI chairman
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 ...
.
Sadiq ran for the seat of
Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as a candidate of PTI in
1997 Pakistani general election from Constituency PP-121 Lahore but was unsuccessful. He received 4,541 votes and lost the seat to
Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N).
Sadiq left PTI in 1998 owing to differences with Imran Khan
and joined PML (N) in 2001.
Sadiq was elected to the
National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of PML-N from
Constituency NA-122 (Lahore-V) on
2002 general election,
by defeating Imran Khan.
Sadiq claimed "it was a big victory as his leader Nawaz Sharif in exile and Pervez Musharraf, a close aide of Imran Khan at that time, in power".
During his tenure as the member of the National Assembly, he remained a member of the National Assembly's Standing Committees on Railways,
Finance and Defence Production.
Sadiq was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-122 (Lahore-V) in
2008 general election.
During his tenure as the member of the National Assembly, he became the chairman of the National Assembly's Standing Committees on Railways.
Sadiq was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-122 (Lahore-V) in
2013 Pakistani general election,
by defeating Imran Khan.
In June 2013, Sadiq was elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan.
In 2015, Imran Khan alleged rigging in the constituency of Sadiq from where Sadiq won in 2013 election. Following which 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 ...
de-seated Sadiq and ordered re-polling in the constituency.
In October 2015, Sadiq retained his National Assembly seat by defeating a PTI candidate in by-election and was re-elected to the National Assembly for the fourth time. In November 2015, Sadiq retained its position as the speaker of the National Assembly by getting re-elected for the second time
and become first person to have been elected as the Speaker of National Assembly for the second time during the same government's tenure in Pakistan.
He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency
NA-129 (Lahore-VII) in
2018 Pakistani general election. On 15 August 2018, he was replaced by
Asad Qaiser as speaker of the National Assembly.
He is generally considered a soft-spoken
and cool-headed politician in Pakistan.
In 2020, made claims about
2019 India–Pakistan border skirmishes
The 2019 India–Pakistan border skirmishes were a series of armed clashes consisting of cross-border airstrikes and exchanges of gunfire between India and Pakistan across the ''de facto'' border in the disputed Kashmir region, which is subje ...
that foreign minister
Qureshi
Qureshi (also known as Qureyshi, Quraishi, Qurayshi, Qureshy, Quraishy, Qoraishi, Qoreshi, Koraishi, Kureshi, Kureshy, Kureishi, Coreish) is a Muslim family name. In English it has many spellings, in Arabic is spelled "", which means part of the ...
was "trembling with fear" and insisting to release pilot to avert an Indian invasion. This issue became a row, drawing sharp criticism for him from
ISPR and Pakistani government, terming his statements as "irresponsible" and demanding an apology from him. He answered to the controversy and added that statement was being misrepresented.
Amid the April 2022 political crisis in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, when the speaker and the deputy speaker resigned, he was asked to hold voting on
no-confidence motion against the
prime minister of Pakistan
The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Pa ...
.
Acting President of Pakistan
Ayaz Sadiq was the acting President of Pakistan from 2014 to 2014, when President
Mamnoon Hussain
Mamnoon Hussain ( ur, ; 22 December 1941 – 14 July 2021) was a Pakistani politician and industrialist who served as the 12th president of Pakistan from 2013 to 2018. He was first appointed Governor of Sindh in June 1999 by President Rafiq ...
went abroad for medical treatment.
NA Speaker assumes charge as Acting President
ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has assumed responsibilities as Acting President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan .
According to press release issued by assembly secretariat, the speaker would act as president until the president or senate chairman, returns to Pakistan from official visit abroad.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadiq, Ayaz
Living people
1954 births
Pakistani MNAs 2002–2007
Pakistani MNAs 2008–2013
Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018
Pakistani MNAs 2018–2023
Pakistan Muslim League (N) MNAs
Politicians from Lahore
Punjabi people
Aitchison College alumni
Hailey College of Commerce alumni
Acting presidents of Pakistan
presidents of Pakistan
Speakers of the National Assembly of Pakistan