Senator President Pakistan Muslim League Ex-Prime Minister
Pakistan Muslim League-Q
Chaudhry Shujat Hussain
Chaudhry Shujat Hussain, a political icon in Pakistan, has a political career stretching over 25 years and belongs to a family that has always supported military rulers. Although he is generally perceived as somewhat politically inarticulate and suffering from poor health, he has nevertheless proved himself to be a politician. Today, he is not that popular as he lost in the recent General Elections but he is still determined to serve Pakistan with more commitment and dedication.
His family had no political background until father Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi, a lower middle class man, became a local councillor in the early 1950s. The family is now an industrial powerhouse, involved in sugar, textiles, flour mills and agriculture. Elahi connected his family to the elite of the country through a web of marriages. The family was always prepared to join hands with military rulers, serving Gen Ayyub Khan (1958-68), Gen Zia ul-Haq (1977-88) and now Gen Pervez Musharraf (since Oct 1999).
Chaudry Shujat Hussain was born on January 27, 1946. He Graduated from Forman Christian College, University of Punjab in 1967 and obtained degree in Industrial Management Course from the United Kingdom. Chaudhry Shujaat is heading the Pakistan Muslim League (Q). He belongs to an influential political family. His father late Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi was a seasoned parliamentarian who played a major role in restoration of democracy and human rights in the country and was awarded "PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE" by the Amnesty International. Late Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi was assassinated in a terrorist attack on 25th September, 1981.
He entered politics in the year 1981 and became Member of Federal Parliament Majlis-e-Shoora (1982-85). Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has held many a portfolios of Federal Ministers in his political career. He has remained “Minister for Information & Broadcasting” (1986), “Minister for Industries & Production” (1987-88), “Minister for Interior” (1990-93), and “Minister for Interior & Narcotics Control” (1997-99).
He was Leader of the Parliamentary Party of PML in National Assembly of Pakistan during 1985-86. He later led the Opposition Parliamentary Party in National Assembly from 1988 to 1990. Chaudhry Shujaat was elected Senator in February 1993 and remained so till 1997, where he was Chairman, Senate Standing Committee on Defence, Defence Production & Aviation. He became President of Pakistan Muslim League, Punjab in 1997. He then became ‘Member of the National Assembly’ in October, 2002 and his party PML (Q) formed the Government. He was leader of the PML (QA) parliamentary party in the National Assembly. He became the President of Pakistan Muslim League (QA) in January, 2003 and on May 12th, 2004 he was elected the President of Pakistan Muslim League (Q).
Chaudhry Shujat Hussain became the Prime Minister of Pakistan for a short tenure of three months. He remained Prime Minister from June 2004 to August 2004. He resigned in August 2004 as Prime Minister to devote full attention to his party as President.
Chaudhry Shujaat is the Honorary Consul General, Republic of South Korea since 1982. He has been awarded the highest diplomatic award: "Order of the Diplomatic Service Merit - "UEUNG-IN-METAL" for distinguished services in promoting mutual relations between Pakistan and Korea.
Chaudhry Shujat has been in Pakistani politics since long, but he came in the real limelight after the coup of General Musharraf. After the Nawaz Sharif government was overthrown by General Pervez Musharraf on October 12, 1999, several PML-N dissidents formed a group under Mian Muhammad Azhar's leadership. Earlier, Chaudhry Shujaat did not join any group, but after Nawaz Sharif's exile, he also joined Mian Azhar and formed the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) in March 2001. In the general election of October 2002, Chaudhry Shujaat was elected to the National Assembly. He has also been elected unopposed for three years in a row as president of the PML (Q), Pakistan's ruling party since 2006.
On July 9, 2007, he led a delegation that attempted to negotiate with militants besieged in the Red Mosque in Islamabad shortly before the military stormed the mosque compound early the next day.
Shujaat was a candidate in the February 2008 parliamentary election for a seat from Gujrat (NA-105), where he faced Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and a seat from Sialkot (NA-112). In what was considered an upset, he was defeated by Mukhtar in Gujrat. He was also defeated in Sialkot. Shujaat subsequently accepted the PML-Q's defeat in the election and believes that the elections have been free and fair.
