Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq ( ur, ; born 20 February 1952) is a Pakistani politician who is the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Z). He served as Minister for Religious Affairs and Minorities in the government of General

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 ...

from 2004 to 2007, after having served as Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis in the government of

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...

from 1990 to 1993. A graduate of

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

, Ijaz worked as a banker prior to entering in politics in 1988, following the assassination of his father General

Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, ( Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial ...

, Pakistan's sixth president. He was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan between 1990 and May 2018. He is mostly active during dictatorial regimes in Pakistan.

Early life and education

Ijaz was born on 20 February 1952 to General

, who was born in Jalandhar, and Begum Shafiq Zia, who was born in Uganda. He received his master's degree in business administration from

, United States. He worked as a banker, with

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

in Bahrain, prior to entering politics in 1990.

Political career

Upon the death of his father in a plane crash in 1988, Haq returned to Pakistan and entered politics. Ijaz was elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the first time in 1990 Pakistani general election from NA-54 Rawalpindi constituency defeating the PPP candidate from two constituencies; NA-39 and NA-72 on

Islami Jamhoori Ittehad The Islami Jamhoori Ittehad ( Islamic Democratic Alliance; acronym: IJI; ur, ) was a right-wing conservative alliance formed in September 1988 to oppose the democratic socialist Pakistan Peoples Party in elections that year. The alliance compri ...

ticket. The elections were declared manipulated and rigged by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2012. Ijaz was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the second time in 1993 Pakistani general election from NA-54 Rawalpindi constituency defeating the PPP candidate. In 1994, he was imprisoned with other (PML-N) leaders in Adiala Jail. Ijaz was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the third time in 1997 Pakistani general election from NA-54 Rawalpindi constituency defeating the PPP candidate. Following the election, he was appointed as the federal minister for Labour, Manpower and overseas Pakistanis where he served from 1997 to 1999 during Nawaz Sharif second ministry until Sharif government was overthrown soon afterward in a

1999 Pakistani coup d'état The 1999 military takeover in Pakistan was a bloodless ''coup d'état'' initiated by the military staff at the Joint Staff HQ working under Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Pervez Musharraf. The instigators seized c ...

by General

in 1999. Following differences with Nawaz Sharif, Ijaz created his own party PML-Z in 2002. He was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the fourth time in 2002 Pakistani general election from Bahawalnagar constituency. He allied with PML-Q and was appointed as the Federal Minister for religious affairs and Federal Minister for Minorities in Musharraf government. He ran in the 2008 Pakistani general election from only one constituency Bahawalnagar instead of two but lost the election for the first time Following the defeat in the elections, he resigned from the PML-Q in 2010. to a PPP candidate. He was elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Bahawalnagar constituency in by-elections held in 2010. In 2012, it was reported that he may join PML-N and get PML-N ticket to run in upcoming general elections from constituency Bahawalnagar NA-191. In 2013, he allied with PML-N. Ijaz ran for the seat of the National Assembly from two Bahawalnagar constituencies in 2013 Pakistani general election however lost from NA-190 and won NA-191. He was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the fifth time from constituency NA-191 defeating a candidate of PPP He run for NA 169 Bahawalnagar 4 in 2018 Pakistani general election however, he lost to Noorul Hassan Tanvir of Pakistan Muslim League (N) by getting 72461 votes. {{cite news, title=NA 169 Bahawalnagar 4, url=https://www.geo.tv/election/NA-169, work=www.geo.tv, date=22 May 2013, language=en

References

{{reflist, 30em {{DEFAULTSORT:Ijaz-ul-Haq, Muhammad Living people 1952 births Pakistani bankers Pakistani political party founders Pakistani MNAs 1990–1993 Pakistani MNAs 1993–1996 Pakistani MNAs 1997–1999 Pakistani MNAs 2002–2007 Punjab MPAs 2008–2013 Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018 Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumni Children of presidents of Pakistan Religious Ministers of Pakistan Pakistan Muslim League (N) MNAs Pakistani prisoners and detainees Pakistani Muslims Pakistani expatriates in Bahrain

Early life and education

Political career

Further reading

References