Chaudhry Parvez Elahi Warraich[a] (Urdu, Punjabi: چوہدری پرویز الٰہی وڑائچ; born 1 November 1945) is a Pakistani politician who was the Chief Minister of Punjab from late 2002 to late 2007 and again from late 2022 to early 2023. He was a member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from August 2018 till January 2023, when he, as chief minister, dissolved the assembly. In 2023, he left the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML(Q)) and joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) along with his son, Moonis Elahi, and 10 other former PML(Q) MPAs over political rifts with the party president and cousin, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. He was appointed as, and is currently serving as the president of the PTI. He also served as the president of the Punjab Division of the PML(Q).[2]
Chaudhry Parvez Elahi was born 1 November 1945[4][5][1] in Gujrat, Punjab[6] to industrialist Chaudhry Manzoor Elahi. He hails from a family of politicians[6] and industrialists of Gujrat.[7][1][8] He belongs to a Punjabi family.[9][10][11]
His father Chaudhry Manzoor was non-political, unlike his younger brother Chaudhry Zahoor, concentrating on his business in the textile industry, being active in Ludhiana and then Amritsar after earning his B.Sc. Engineering but having to move back to his native village of Natt in Gujrat due to the 1947 partition. He had two daughters and three sons: Parvez, Javed, who looked after the family business, and Sabahat, who has resided in Thailand, being engaged in carpet manufacturing. Chaudhry Manzoor died in 2005, at the age of 90.[12]
Parvez is a cousin of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and is married to his sister, with whom he has two sons, Moonis Elahi and Rasikh Elahi.[6][7] While his younger son Moonis is also a well known politician, his elder son Rasikh has been described as “a Sufi religious scholar, who avoids politics and public appearances.”[13]
Outside Chaudhry Shujaat, his brothers and their sons, Parvez’s other relatives in politics include Chaudhry Tajamal Hussain, the cousin of his father who has been an MNA, and whose own son Chaudhry Mubashar Hussain is a politician as well.[15]
Political career
Early political career (1985-1999)
Parvez began his political career after being elected as the chairman of the district council of Gujrat[6][16] for four years in 1983. He served as Provincial Minister[6][16] for Local Government and Rural Development for eight years[1] from 1985 to 1993. He was elected as a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab for the first time in 1985, again in 1988, 1990, and 1993. He also served as the acting leader of the opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from 1993
During the late 1980s and 1990s Pakistani politics was dominated by two movements, the conservative, right-wing Islamic Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) led by Nawaz Sharif, and the more left-wingPakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by Benazir Bhutto. Parvez Elahi and the Chaudhry family followed a more traditionalist and conservative outlook, therefore Parvez and Shujaat Hussain sided with Nawaz Sharif and both joined the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad from 1985 to 1993, until joining the IJI’s successor, the PML-N.[6]
It was reported that Nawaz Sharif had promised Parvez that if PML-N won the 1997 Pakistani general election, Pervaiz would be made the chief minister of Punjab. However, when PML-N won the 1997 general elections, Nawaz appointed his brother Shahbaz Sharif as the Chief Minister of Punjab. To avoid the impression that Pervaiz was unhappy with this decision of Nawaz Sharif, Pervaiz supported Shahbaz Sharif for the position of Chief Minister, however, he decided not to join the provincial cabinet of Shahbaz Sharif.[16][6][18] He was re-elected as a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab for the fifth time in 1997 and was elected as the speaker of Provincial Assembly of Punjab[1][6][16][18] in 1997 where he remained until June 2001.[19]
He along with his cousin Shujaat and other dissidents left PML-N to form their own party, PML-Q, of which he became a top member.[1][6][16] He was re-elected as a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab for the sixth time in the 2002 Punjab provincial election.[1] Following the elections, Parvez was elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab for the first time,[18][16] an office he served from October 2002 until October 2007.[18][1]
First Term as Chief Minister of Punjab (2002-2007)
Parvez Elahi was sworn in as Chief Minister of Punjab on 29 November, 2002 while most of the ministers in his provincial cabinet were sworn in January 2003.[20][21] His first tenure oversaw a period of political stability with him holding the Military-backed President, Governor and Prime Minister's support. Because of this, he was able to serve a full tenure, and was able to initiate many programs and initiatives. His provincial cabinet was composed largely of new politicians from the PML (Q), including Muhammad Basharat Raja, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Aleem Khan and Sibtain Khan while his governor would be Khalid Maqbool, appointed by Pervez Musharraf.
As Chief Minister of Punjab, Parvez initiated several initiatives to develop the province, including the Multan Institute of Cardiology, which Elahi founded and worked to establish. Some of his most successful projects include the Rescue 1122 helpline system, the University of Gujrat, the Lahore Ring Road and several other irrigation and social projects that were founded in his tenure. He has received appraisal for his work as Chief Minister.[22][23]
Education sector
In 2004, his administration introduced the Female Secondary School Stipend program as part of the Punjab Education Sector Reforms Programme (PESRP). The program aimed to improve female enrollment in public schools, focusing on 15 of Punjab's lowest-literacy districts. Evaluations conducted by the World Bank using difference-in-difference (DD) and regression-discontinuity design (RDD) analyses indicated a 9% increase in female enrollments and an average addition of six female students per school between 2003 and 2005. However, enrollment rates had already been rising prior to the program's implementation, suggesting the FSSS program was one of several factors contributing to this trend. Additionally, the evaluations primarily assessed enrollment impacts, with less emphasis on broader educational outcomes such as learning quality or test scores. This initiative was part of broader efforts to enhance education access and quality in Punjab.[24]
Post-Chief ministership
Federal Minister and Deputy Prime Minister
In the 2008 Pakistani general election, Pervaiz was elected as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the first time and as a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab for the seventh time.[1] The PML-Q nominated Pervaiz as its candidate for the post of prime minister of Pakistan following the 2008 general elections.[18] Following the election, he was made the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, however he quit this post later that year.[1][6][25] He was made Federal Minister for Defence Production and Industries in the Yousuf Raza Gilani cabinet.[26][6][1]
In 2011, a ceremonial post was created to appoint Parvez as the first deputy prime minister of Pakistan,[27] having no powers even in the absence of the prime minister of Pakistan.[26][6] In the 2013 Pakistani general election, Pervaiz contested and won election from NA-105, a National Assembly constituency in Gujrat[6][28] defeating candidates of PPP and PML-N.[29][10]
In March 2022, Imran Khan nominated Parvez Elahi as a candidate for the post of Chief Minister of Punjab after the incumbent Usman Buzdar resigned. After a four-month long constitutional crisis, he took oath as the 18th Chief Minister of Punjab on 27 July. During his second tenure as Chief Minister, he approved schemes worth Rs.15 Billion in order to provide quality and up-to-date medical services and equipment to areas of Punjab including hospitals in Multan, Faisalabad and Gujrat.[37] He also approved the upgrade of hospital wards and the distribution of free medicines across the province.[38]
Parvez Elahi (left) with Imran Khan (centre) and Mahmood Khan (right) announcing the dissolution of the Punjab and KPK assemblies.
On 22 December, the Governor of Punjab, Balighur Rehman, denotified Elahi from his position, citing his failure to take a vote of confidence from the Provincial Assembly, which the Governor had requested, as the reason for the de notification.[39] However, Elahi was restored by the Lahore High Court on 23 December 2022.
On 12 January 2023, after securing victory in a vote of confidence the night before, Parvez sent a letter to Governor Balighur Ur Rehman, advising him to dissolve the Provincial Assembly.[40] On 22 January, he was replaced as Chief Minister by Mohsin Raza Naqvi, who was appointed by the Election Commission of Pakistan to lead a caretaker government.[41]
President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
In late February 2023, Parvez Elahi announced joining the Imran Khan-led PTI party along with 10 of his party's former MPAs. His decision was said to have marked a split between him and his cousin Shujaat Hussain.[42]
In March 2023, Parvez Elahi was appointed as President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf by Imran Khan after Elahi had reassured support for the party following its 2022 ousting from power.[42] In June 2023, Elahi was arrested on charges of illegally appointing officers in the Punjab Assembly when he was Chief Minister and detained in Rawalpindi. Elahi denied the charges, calling it political persecution.[43]
During his imprisonment, he faced several medical issues, the biggest of which was a major spinal fracture after falling in a jail washroom.[48][49] He was released from jail on bail in May 2024.[43]
