Mian Muhammad Azhar
{{short description|Pakistani politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Mian Muhammad Azhar
| native_name = میاں محمد اظہر
| honorific-suffix =
| image =
| alt =
| office = 24th Governor of Punjab
| term_start = 6 August 1990
| term_end = 25 April 1993
| lieutenant =
| president = Ghulam Ishaq Khan
| predecessor = General (Retd) Tikka Khan
| successor = Chaudhry Altaf Hussain
| office1 = President of PML(Q)
| primeminister1 =
| term_start1 = 1999
| term_end1 = 2003
| successor1 = Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain
| president1 =
| primeminister2 = Muhammad Khan Junejo
Benazir Bhutto
Nawaz Sharif
| term_start2 = 1987
| term_end2 = 1990
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| president2 =
| term_start3 = 1990
| term_end3 = 2003
| office3 = President of Pakistan Football Federation
| successor3 = Faisal Saleh Hayat
| office4 = Member of National Assembly of Pakistan
| term_start4 = 29 February 2024
| term_end4 =
| predecessor4 = Hammad Azhar
| successor4 =
| constituency4 = NA-129 Lahore-XIII
| term_start5 = 1997
| term_end5 = 1999
| predecessor5 = Nawaz Sharif
| successor5 = Mian Jalil Ahmad Sharaqpuri
| constituency5 = NA-92 (Lahore-I)
| term_start6 = 1988
| term_end6 = 1991
| predecessor6 = Nawaz Sharif
| successor6 = Nawaz Sharif
| constituency6 = NA-95 (Lahore-IV)
| party = PTI (2011-present)
| otherparty = PML(Q) (2002-2011)
| children = Hammad Azhar (son)
| education = Hailey College of Commerce
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1942}}
| native_name_lang = ur
}}
Mian Muhammad Azhar ({{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|میاں محمد اظہر}}}}) is a Pakistani politician and a businessman representing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He is currently a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, serving since February 2024. He is from an Arain family of Lahore,{{Cite web |title=FAMOUS ARAIN's {{!}} Arain Society Islamabad |url=http://arainsociety.com/FamousArain.html |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=arainsociety.com}}{{Cite web |last=Bashir |first=Itrat |date=2022-01-28 |title=PTI finalises Hammad's name as candidate for Lahore mayorship |url=https://www.brecorder.com/news/40150452 |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Brecorder |language=en}} He is a former governor of Punjab{{Cite web |title=Pakistan Movement Leadership Was Honest: Mian Azhar |url=https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/pakistan-movement-leadership-was-honest-mian-680696.html |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=UrduPoint |language=en}} (1990-1993) and the founder of PML-Q,{{cite book |title=A history of Pakistan and its origins |authorlink=Christophe Jaffrelot |last=Jaffrelot |first=Christophe |page=279 |year=2004 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-84331-149-2 }}{{Cite web |title=Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam) PML(Q) |url=https://pakvoter.org/pakistan-muslim-league-quaid-i-azam-pmlq/ |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=PakVoter |language=en-GB}} of which he was also president. He is one of the largest steel manufacturers of Pakistan and is the CEO of Afco Steel Industries. He was also the mayor of Lahore between 1987 and 1991.{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/267554/breaking-ties-former-punjab-governor-mian-azhar-joins-pti/|title=Breaking ties: Former Punjab Governor Mian Azhar joins PTI - The Express Tribune|date=5 October 2011|publisher=}}
He is the father of former Federal Minister Hammad Azhar.{{Cite web |title=National Assembly of Pakistan |url=https://na.gov.pk/en/profile.php?uid=1362 |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=na.gov.pk}}
Education
Political career
Being a close aide of Nawaz Sharif in the past, he was also awarded the National Assembly ticket from NA-95 Lahore-IV, the seat vacated by Nawaz Sharif after the 1988 general elections. Azhar won his seat as a candidate of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad. In 1990, after the dismissal of Benazir Bhutto's first government, he replaced Gen (Rtd.) Tikka Khan as the Governor of Punjab and held the office till 25 April 1993.{{Cite web |title=Our Governors {{!}} Punjab Portal |url=https://punjab.gov.pk/our_governors |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=punjab.gov.pk}} He, however, left the office, which Muslim League insiders said, was due to differences with Sharif.
In the 1997 general elections, he was elected as MNA on PML-N ticket from NA-92 (Lahore-I).{{Cite web |title=NA-92 Lahore Detail Election Result 1997 Full Information |url=https://www.electionpakistani.com/ge1997/NA-92.htm |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=www.electionpakistani.com}}{{Cite web |title=National Assembly of Pakistan |url=https://na.gov.pk/en/content.php?id=121 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214104907/https://na.gov.pk/en/content.php?id=121 |archive-date=2022-02-14 |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=na.gov.pk}} His relations with Sharif got bitter gradually and finally with the dismissal of Nawaz Sharif's government, he became the head of a new faction of Muslim League called PML-Q. He met President Pervez Musharraf on 25 June 2001, thus becoming the first Pakistani politician to do so.{{Cite web |date=2001-06-25 |title=Azhar meets Musharraf |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/213193 |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Arab News |language=en}}
In the 2002 general elections, while he was a strong candidate for the slot of prime minister. However, in a dramatic way, he lost the National Assembly elections from both seats of Lahore and Sheikhupura. In NA-118 (Lahore-I), he was defeated by independent candidate, Hafiz Salman Butt,{{Cite web |title=NA 118 Election Result 2002 {{!}} Nankana Sahib-II Election 2002 {{!}} PakElection |url=https://pakelection.pk/general/national/2002/NA-118/ |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=pakelection.pk}}{{Cite web |title=NA 118 Lahore I Detail Election Result 2002 |url=https://www.electionpakistani.com/ge2002/NA-118.htm |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=www.electionpakistani.com}} who was supported by PML-N and Jamaat-e-Islami, whereas in NA-132 (Sheikhupura-II), he was beaten by PML-N's Mian Jalil Ahmad Sharaqpuri.{{Cite web |title=Imran to face another defeat from Lahore or change history? |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/342602-imran-khan-to-face-another-defeat-from-lahore-or-change-history |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=www.thenews.com.pk |language=en}}
Meanwhile, his party managed to form the national government as well as ruling in two provinces amid charges of massive rigging. Without a parliamentary seat, he was replaced by Shujaat Hussain as head of PLM-Q.{{Cite web |date=2020-07-25 |title=Chaudhry brothers own assets beyond means; how did they launder money? |url=https://www.globalvillagespace.com/chaudhry-brothers-own-assets-beyond-means-how-did-they-launder-money/ |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Global Village Space |language=en-GB}} He also failed to win a seat in the 2008 elections.{{cite web|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-5-71066-Mian-Azhar-joins-Imran-finally|title=The News International: Latest News Breaking, Pakistan News|website=www.thenews.com.pk}}{{cite web|url=http://dawn.com/2011/10/06/mian-azhar-joins-pti/|title=Mian Azhar joins PTI|first=the|last=Newspaper|date=6 October 2011|publisher=}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.nation.com.pk/18-Feb-2013/pti-to-set-up-boards-for-awarding-tickets |title=PTI to set up boards for awarding tickets |access-date=2013-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130319134114/http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/lahore/18-Feb-2013/pti-to-set-up-boards-for-awarding-tickets |archive-date=2013-03-19 |url-status=live }}
He joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in October 2011.{{Cite web |last=Newspaper |first=the |date=2011-10-06 |title=Mian Azhar joins PTI |url=https://www.dawn.com/2011/10/06/mian-azhar-joins-pti/ |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}
He was re-elected to the National Assembly from NA-129 Lahore-XIII as an independent candidate supported by PTI in the 2024 Pakistani general election. He received 103,739 votes and defeated Muhammad Numan, a candidate of PML(N).{{Cite web |title=Election Commission of Pakistan |url=https://ecp.gov.pk/general-elections-2024 |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=ecp.gov.pk}}
Pakistan Football Federation
Pakistani football became a hot bed for politics in the early 1990s. In 1990, Pakistan Football Federation held its general elections in which Azhar won the presidency by a margin of one vote, beating the Pakistan Peoples Party leader Faisal Saleh Hayat. Azhar was instrumental in ousting PFF General Secretary Hafiz Salman Butt (a Member of National Assembly of Jamaat-e-Islami) due to political rifts and alleged abuse of power.
Azhar governed the federation till the 2003 elections, when he was beaten by Hayat, who was supported by Butt. By that time, Azhar had fallen out of favour from the pro-Musharraf PML-Q while Hayat’s own pro-Musharraf PPP faction had been growing in power in the run-up to the 2002 General Elections after which he became the Interior Minister of Pakistan.{{Cite web |last=Ahsan |first=Ali |date=2010-12-23 |title=A history of football in Pakistan — Part III |url=https://www.dawn.com/2010/12/23/a-history-of-football-in-pakistan-part-iii/ |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}
References
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{{succession box |title=Governor of Punjab
| years = 1990 - 1993
| before = Tikka Khan
| after = Chaudhary Altaf Hussain}}
{{s-end}}
{{Governors of Punjab}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azhar, Mian Muhammad}}
Category:Pakistan Muslim League (N) MNAs
Category:Politicians from Lahore
Category:Governors of Punjab, Pakistan
Category:Pakistan Muslim League (Q) politicians
Category:Pakistani MNAs 1990–1993
Category:Pakistani MNAs 1997–1999
Category:Pakistani MNAs 2024–2029