Chaudhary Muhammad Afzal Sahi (born 1 November 1945) is a member of the Sahi

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 ...

family in

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

and is a Pakistani politician.

Early life and education

Muhammad Afzal Sahi was born on 1 November 1949. He is the son of Chaudhry Nawab Khan Sahi, a famous landlord of Sahianwala. He got his early education from Government High School for Boys, Salarwala and then from Government College. He carried on with his education in

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 ...

and graduated from the

University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (UoP) is a public university, public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1882, its international influence has made it one of the most prestigious universities in South As ...

(

) in 1971.

Political career

After completing his education, Sahi stepped into politics in 1973.

District Government Faisalabad

He served as Member District Council Faisalabad for three consecutive terms from 1979 to 1991.

Provincial Assembly of Punjab

In 1985, he participated in the non-party basis Punjab Assembly elections, the first elections to be held during

General Zia Ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also served as the second chief of t ...

's Martial Law regime. Although earlier results indicated that Sahi was defeated by 88 votes, the majority of the population was of the view that the elections were rigged. Mr. Sahi filed an election petition against these results which went in his favour. In February 1988, He was asked to take oath as member of the

Provincial Assembly of the Punjab The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, also known as the Punjab Assembly, is the supreme legislative body of Punjab, a province of Pakistan. It convenes at the Assembly Building in Lahore, the capital of Punjab. It is a unicameral legislature o ...

but the then government never allowed him to take oath until the assembly was dissolved on 30 May 1988. He remained undefeated from his constituency from 1988 till 2008. He served as a member of the

in 1988–90, 1990–93, 1993-96, 1997–99, 2002-2007 and 2013-2018. He functioned as Parliamentary Secretary for Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife during 1990-93 and as Minister for Communications & Works in Punjab during 1997-99. He was elected for the fifth consecutive term as a member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab in the

2002 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 10 October 2002 to elect the 12th National Assembly and four Provincial Assemblies. The elections were held under the military government of Pervez Musharraf. The two mainstream parties, Pakistan ...

and was elected as the

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

. He remained in this post from 2002 to 11 April 2008. During this period he also functioned as governor of Punjab several times. His most recent term in the Provincial Assembly was from 29 May 2013 to 31 May 2018. He ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly from PP-98 Faisalabad-II as a candidate of the

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is a political party in Pakistan established in 1996 by cricketer and politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The party is led by Gohar Ali Khan since late 2023. ...

(PTI) in the

2018 Punjab provincial election Provincial elections were held in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab on to elect the members of the 17th Provincial Assembly of the Punjab on 25 July 2018, alongside nationwide 2018 Pakistani general election, general elections a ...

, but was unsuccessful. He received 44,933 votes and lost to Rana Shoaib Adrees Khan, a candidate of the

Pakistan Muslim League (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 ...

. After losing this election, Sahi announced his retirement from active politics.

Family

Afzal Sahi's elder brother, Lt. Col. (Retd.)

Ghulam Rasool Sahi Ghulam Rasool Sahi (; born 9 July 1944) is a Pakistani politician who has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, from 2002 to 2007 and again from June 2013 to May 2018. Early life He was born on 9 July 1944 in Faisalabad. He receive ...

, is also a veteran politician. He served as member of National Assembly from 2002 to 2007. He returned for his second term as member

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

from 2013 to 2018. His nephew Zafar Zulqarnain Sahi served as member of Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, he was elected from PP-52 in the February 2008 elections. Sahi's younger brother, Akram Sahi is a (retired) major general of Pakistan Army. His son Ch Junaid Afzal Sahi was chairman UC 10 Faisalabad from 2015 to 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahi, Chaudhry Muhammad Afzal Pakistan Muslim League (N) politicians 1949 births Living people Mayors of Faisalabad Politicians from Faisalabad University of the Punjab alumni Punjab MPAs 1985–1988 Punjab MPAs 1988–1990 Punjab MPAs 1990–1993 Pakistan Muslim League (N) MPAs (Punjab) Punjab MPAs 1993–1996 Punjab MPAs 1997–1999 Punjab MPAs 2008–2013 Punjab MPAs 2013–2018 Speakers of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab