akistan Muslim Leagu - Shujaat Hussain's Profile

Pakistan Elections

News

Updates: PTI challenges success of 2 MQM MPs Punjab decides to hold LG polls on Dec 7 PTI to protest if LB polls not held on party basis: Imran PTI's Sheikh Khurram wins PP-72 seat in by-election

Suggested Sites

Web Designing and Development

Shujaat Hussain

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain (born 1946) is a politician from Pakistan who was the Prime Minister of Pakistan from June 30, 2004 until August 28, 2004. He hails from the province of the Punjab where his cousin Chaudhry Pervez Elahi is serving as Chief Minister. Though he suffers from poor health and has at times been described as politically inarticulate, Chaudhry Shujaat has nevertheless proven himself a master at the art of pakistani politics.

Candidate's Party Affiliation

Pakistan Muslim League

Competitors as per Elections 2002

Constituency: NA-74

Malik Ghulam Sarwar • Dr.Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandula

Introduction

History and Background

Hussain's family had no political background until his father Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi, a police constable,who quit the job and established a home cotton industry before partition in Eastern Punjab,after partition he came to Pakistan and established himself again in the same business, in early 1950s he started taking part in active politics and became a local councillor in the early 1950s. His family became an industrial powerhouse, involved in sugar, textiles, flour mills and agriculture. In the process they have survived several financial scandals and possible criminal prosecutions. Elahi connected his family to the elite of the country through a web of marriages. The Chaudhry's family has supported as well differentiated with the leaders of Pakistan's military regimes, such as General Ayub Khan (1958-68), General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (1977-88) and the current president, General Pervez Musharraf (since October 1999).

Early Years

Chaudhry Shujaat entered politics in 1982 after his father was murdered - allegedly by political opponents. General Zia chose him as a member of his hand-picked consultative body, the Majlis-e-Shoora, and later made him a federal minister. Since 1985, Chaudhry Shujaat has won 4 elections to parliament, chiefly on the strength of his association with the Jat clan. He has also served as a federal minister under prime ministers Muhammad Khan Junejo and Nawaz Sharif.

In Power

Chaudhry Shujaat had helped his old friend Zafarullah Khan Jamali, a politician from Balochistan, to become prime minister in November 2002, but along with President Musharraf became dissatisfied with his performance.

As matters came to a head, Jamali handed in his resignation on 26 June, 2004, citing personal reasons for stepping down. Chaudhry Shujaat took over in an interim capacity as the 20th prime minister of Pakistan and the 11th in the past 20 years. He resigned two months after taking office, when finance minister Shaukat Aziz, who had already been nominated for the job by President Musharraf, took over upon attaining eligibility by being elected to the National Assembly from one of the seats given up by the Chaudhry Family.

Pakistan Elections