Fazal Elahi Chaudhry (; 1 January 19042 June 1982) was a Pakistani politician who served as the fifth president of Pakistan from 1973 to 1978 prior to the imposition of

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

led by Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq. He also served as the deputy speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 1965 to 1969 and the eighth speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 1972 to 1973.

Early life

Fazal Elahi Chaudhry was born on 1 January 1904 into an influential Punjabi Gujjar family in Marala village, near the city of Kharian, Gujrat District in Punjab Province. After receiving his education from there, Chaudhry joined the prestigious Aligarh Muslim University in 1920, receiving his LLB in Civil law in 1924. Thereafter, Chaudhry returned to Punjab and attended the Punjab University's post-graduate school in law and political science. In 1925, Chaudhry obtained his MA in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1925, and the advanced LLM in Law and Justice, in 1927. After completing his education, Chaudhry established his law firm in Lahore, advocating for civil liberties, and went back to Gujrat and started practising the civil law.

Political career

Early years (1942-1956)

In 1930, Chaudhry started taking interest in politics and participated in the 1930 Indian general election for the Gujrat District Board and was elected unopposed. He joined the Muslim League in 1942. In 1945, he was elected from Gujrat as the President of Muslim League. He took part in the 1946 Indian provincial elections on Muslim League's ticket and played an important role in propagating the ideas of the Muslim League among the people of his area. Upon the independence of Pakistan, he was given the post of Parliamentary Secretary, and was included in Liaquat Ali Khan's cabinet, serving as the

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

minister. He further joined Pakistan permanent representative's delegation to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in 1951. In 1951, he contested the elections of the Punjab Legislative Assembly on the Muslim League ticket and was elected as a member of the Punjab Assembly. In 1952, he represented Pakistan in the United Nations.

Speaker and deputy speaker roles (1956-1972)

In the 1956 elections, he was elected as member of the West Pakistan Assembly. Chaudhry served as the first Speaker of the West Pakistan Legislative Assembly from 20 May 1956 to 7 October 1958. In 1962, when Ayub Khan announced the elections, he was selected as the Deputy Opposition Leader of the House on the basis of his experience and knowledge about parliamentary proceedings. Chaudhry joined the Convention Muslim League, and after the 1965 presidential election, he was elected as the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, a role he served in till 1969. He was elected as member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

in 1970 on the ticket of the

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 ...

, and was later elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly in 1972. He ended up joining the Pakistan Peoples Party.

President of Pakistan (1973-1978)

He contested the Presidential Elections of 1973 against Khan Amirzadah Khan of NAP and all opposition parties, and was elected president in 1973 (receiving 139 votes against Khan's 45), when the head of the PPP, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was made

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. He was the first Punjabi President of Pakistan. Chaudhry was largely a figurehead, and was the first Pakistani President with less power than the Prime Minister. This was due to the new constitution of 1973 that gave more powers to the Prime Minister. Previously, the President had been the chief executive of Pakistan and had the power to appoint

. After Operation Fair Play - a codename of the operation to remove Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from power - Chaudhry continued his presidency but had no influence in the government operations or the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

and national affairs. After contentious relations with the

, Chaudhry decided to resign from his post despite the urging of the Chief of Army Staff and

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of Joint Chiefs of Staff. On 16 September 1978, Chaudhry handed the charge of the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

to ruling military general Zia-ul-Haq who succeeded him as the sixth president, in addition to being the Chief Martial Law Administrator and the Chief of Army Staff.He presented Pakistan as an Islamic country in the world.

Death

Chaudhry died of a heart ailment on 2 June 1982 at the age of 78.

Notes

References

External links

Chronicles Of Pakistan
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaudhry, Fazal Elahi 1904 births 1982 deaths Aligarh Muslim University alumni First Pakistani Cabinet Pakistan Movement activists People from Kharian Presidents of Pakistan Pakistani landowners Speakers of the National Assembly of Pakistan University of the Punjab alumni Pakistan People's Party politicians Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University alumni Deputy speakers of the National Assembly of Pakistan Pakistani MNAs 1972–1977 Pakistani MNAs 1962–1965 Punjab, Pakistan MLAs 1951–1955 Members of the Provincial Assembly of West Pakistan Speakers of the Provincial Assembly of West Pakistan People from Punjab Province (British India) Muslim Gujjars