Murad Saeed (; born 17 August 1986) is 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 who served as Federal Minister for Communications and Federal Minister for Postal Services from December 2018 to April 2022. Previously, he served as Minister of State for Communications and Minister of State for Postal Services from 18 September 2018 and 26 October 2018, respectively to December 2018. He had been a member of the

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 August 2018 till January 2023. Previously, he served as Minister of State for States and Frontier Regions from 11 September to 18 September 2018. He had also been a member of the National Assembly from June 2013 to May 2018. His term as minister ended on 10 April 2022 when the

no-confidence motion against Imran Khan In April 2022, a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan led to his removal as the prime minister of Pakistan. Based largely on the Westminster system of legislature, the prime minister commands confidence of the majority of the lower house of ...

was successful. According to analysts, Saeed is seen as a strong contender for taking up the mantle for party leadership in future.

Early life and education

Murad Saeed Khan was born on 17 August 1986 at Kabal,

Swat A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

. Saeed holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in Environmental Sciences from the

University of Peshawar The University of Peshawar (; ; ; abbreviated UoP; known more popularly as Peshawar University) is a public research university located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The university is one of the oldest universities in the provi ...

Political career

Student politics

Saeed was the founder of Insaf Student Federation, the student wing of

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

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

and remained its central president for four years.

National Assembly

Saeed was elected to the

as a candidate of PTI from Constituency NA-29 Swat in the

2013 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on Saturday 11 May 2013 to elect the members of the List of members of the 14th National Assembly of Pakistan, 14th National Assembly of Pakistan, National Assembly and the four Subdivisions of Pakistan, Pr ...

. He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PTI from Constituency NA-4 (Swat-III) in the

2018 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 25 July 2018 to elect the members of the 15th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. The three major parties were Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by Imran Khan, the Pakistan Muslim ...

. He received 71,600 votes and defeated Saleem Khan, a candidate of

Awami National Party The Awami National Party (ANP; , ; lit. ''People's National Party'') is a Pashtun nationalist, secular and leftist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986 and its current president is Aimal Wali Khan, g ...

(ANP).

Ministerial positions

On 11 September 2018, he was inducted into the federal cabinet of Prime Minister

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

and was appointed as Minister of State for States and Frontier Regions. On 18 September, his ministerial portfolio was changed and he was appointed as Minister of State for Communications. On 26 October 2018, he was given the additional ministerial portfolio of

Postal Services The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sy ...

and was appointed as Minister of State for Postal Services. On 17 December 2018, he was elevated as Federal Minister and was appointed as Federal Minister for Communications, and Federal Minister for Postal Services. Murad Saeed obtained the best ministry award during his Ministerial tenure.

Controversies

Degree authenticity

In 2015, the University of Peshawar requested the Peshawar High Court to disqualify Saeed from his National Assembly seat for making a false declaration of his Bachelor of Science degree while filing nomination papers for the 2013 general elections. The University of Peshawar maintained that there are problems found in his make-up examination and said that Saeed's transcripts do not have its official stamp for his B.Sc. degree in Environmental Sciences. However, Murad Saeed refuted these allegations and said that the vice chancellor belonged to a political opponent's party, the

. Saeed approached the

Peshawar High Court The Peshawar High Court (PHC, ) is the provincial and highest judicial institution of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. It is located in the provincial capital Peshawar. The Parliament passed a bill extending the jurisdiction of the Supreme Cour ...

to prove that he had attended University of Peshawar from 2005 to 2009 for his undergraduate degree and passed all his courses. In March 2018, the Peshawar High Court dismissed the petition and closed case against Murad Saeed.

Fights in the National Assembly

Saeed made national news in March 2017, when a scuffle broke out between him and fellow MNA

Mian Javed Latif Mian Javed Latif (; born 22 February 1964) is a Pakistani politician who had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from August 2018 till August 2023. Previously, he was a member of the National Assembly from 2008 to May 2018 and a me ...

. Saeed reportedly attempted to assault Javed Latif outside the National Assembly building after Latif made lewd remarks in the assembly about Imran Khan and called him a traitor and a rebel. Latif later apologized for his lewd remarks. The issue was resolved later by the National Assembly Jirga. In April 2018, Saeed again made national news after a scuffle broke out between him and

Abid Sher Ali Chaudhry Abid Sher Ali (; born 21 November 1971) is a Pakistani politician who Previously, served as Minister of State for Power from July 2013 to May 2018. Previously served as Chairman of National Assembly for Education from 2008 to till 201 ...

inside the National Assembly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saeed, Murad Living people Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNAs Pashtun politicians People from Swat District University of Peshawar alumni Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018 1963 births Pakistani MNAs 2018–2023 Federal ministers of Pakistan