Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar (; 22 June 1946 – 25 November 2020) was a
Pakistani
Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...
politician and businessman who served as the
Defence Minister of Pakistan
The Minister of Defence (Urdu: 'وزیرِ دفاع') heads the Ministry of Defence (Pakistan), Ministry of Defence. The minister serves in the cabinet of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Prime Minister and is required to be a member of Parliament ...
in the PM
Yousaf Raza Gillani
Yusuf Raza Gilani (born 9 June 1952) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Pakistan from 2008 to 2012. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan since 2024. Chairman Gilani served as the acti ...
Pakistan Peoples Party
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...
from
Gujrat District
Gujrat ( Punjabi, ) is a district of Gujrat Division in the Pakistani province of Punjab. The Gujrat District was created by the British Government in 1846. According to the 2023 Pakistani census the population of the Gujrat District is 3,219 ...
and he defeated
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain (born 27 January 1946) is a senior Pakistani politician who previously served as 16th prime minister of Pakistan. Hussain is the party president of the PML(Q) since 2003.
Hailing from the business-industrialist Chaudh ...
from Gujrat NA-105 in 1993 and 2008, the leader of
PML-Q
The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam Group) ; ''Pākistān Muslim Līg (Qāf)'', Acronym and initialism, Acronyms: PML(Q), PML-Q, PMLQ, "Q League" (officially registered as the Pakistan Muslim League) is a political party in Pakistan. As of ...
party, who was allied with President
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008.
Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...
Lahore
Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
to
Chaudhry Muhammad Hussain
Chaudhry Muhammad Hussain was a Pakistani industrialist and cricket administrator who served as the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), ...
, who served as the Chairman of the
Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan ...
Jat
The Jat people (, ), also spelt Jaat and Jatt, are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in l ...
Master of Science
A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...
degree in
Operational Management
Operations management is concerned with designing and controlling the production of goods and services, ensuring that businesses are efficient in using resources to meet customer requirements.
It is concerned with managing an entire produ ...
from California, United States and a Diploma in Plastic Technology from
West Germany
West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
.Pakistan Herald "Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar" ''Pakistan Herald'', 7 August 2014 Mukhtar was also a graduate of
Forman Christian College University
Forman Christian College is a private nonprofit Liberal arts college, liberal arts Universities in Pakistan, university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian Church ...
. Mukhtar was fluent in Urdu, Punjabi, English and German.
Political career
He was a businessman who started his political career in 1990 on PPP platform.
He was an industrialist and served as Commerce Minister in the 1993–1996
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was also the first woman elected to head a democratic governmen ...
government. He was considered the most likely candidate to be the next
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...
Yousaf Raza Gillani
Yusuf Raza Gilani (born 9 June 1952) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Pakistan from 2008 to 2012. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan since 2024. Chairman Gilani served as the acti ...
and
Shah Mehmood Qureshi
Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi (; born 22 June 1956) is a Pakistani politician who served as the minister of Foreign Affairs from 2018 to 2022. He previously held the post from 2008 to 2011. He had been a Parliament of Pakistan from Augu ...
, but was later denied, when Yousaf Raza Gillani was announced as the new PM on 22 March 2008. He became the Defence Minister in the coalition government of PPP,
PML-N
The Pakistan Muslim League (N) or (PML(N)) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right, Conservatism in Pakistan, conservative political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate of Pakistan, Senate and the larges ...
, ANP and JUI-F formed after 2008 elections on 31 March 2008.
Personal life
His brother
Ahmad Saeed
Chaudhry Ahmad Saeed (11 January 1941 – 28 September 2018) was a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the chairman of the Pakistan International Airlines from 2001 to 2005.PIA Managing director (from April 2001) and PIA chairman (from April 2003, both until April 2005) during the General
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008.
Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...
era. Ahmad Mukhtar himself took the role of chairman PIA from May 2008.
He was also the brother-in-law of former
Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan ...