Shibli Faraz

Syed Shibli Faraz () is a Pakistani politician who is currently serving as the Leader of Opposition in Senate of Pakistan since April 2024. He previously served as the Minister of Science and Technology, in 2021 and 2022. He has been a member of the Senate of Pakistan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2015.

Previously, Shibli had served as the Leader of the House for the Senate of Pakistan from 26 August 2018 until 4 June 2020. He is a member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and is the party’s head in the Senate of Pakistan.

Early life and education

He was born in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and is the son of the late Urdu poet Ahmad Faraz. His uncle Barrister Masood Kausar had served as the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His family is of Hindko-speaking Pashtun background.

He completed his matriculation and intermediate from Cadet College Kohat. Later, he graduated from the Edwardes College, Peshawar, earned his LLB from the Law College, Peshawar and completed his MA in International Relations at the University de Los Andes, Colombia in 1994, while he has also been a Fellow in Finance & International Banking at the Chartered Banker Institute, London. Additionally, he holds a commercial pilot license and is fluent in English, Pashto and Spanish in addition to Urdu and Hindko.

Professional career

Before entering active politics, Faraz had worked as an investment banker, and has previously served as a pilot in the Pakistan Air Force as well as a civil servant.

Political career

Early career

He was elected as a Senator in March 2015 under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in the 2015 Pakistani Senate election on a seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He also served as Chairman of the Senate Committees on Circular Debt and Commerce and Textile.

Leader of the House for the Senate

In August 2018, then Prime Minister Imran Khan appointed Faraz as the Leader of the House for the Senate of Pakistan, where he served until 4 June 2020. In response to the appointment of Faraz as Leader of the House, the PML-N made Raja Zafar-ul-Haq as Opposition Leader in the Senate. While serving as Leader of the House, the Senate passed the Zainab Alert Bill, which was brought by the Imran Khan government.

Minister of Information & Broadcasting

On 27 April 2020, Imran Khan appointed Shibli as the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting along with General Asim Saleem Bajwa as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Information and Broadcasting.

As Information Minister, he gave out several statements, as he criticized Leader of the Opposition, Shehbaz Sharif for evading arrest from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), criticized former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his alleged overseas assets and money laundering and vowed that the government would bring him to Pakistan from his residence in London. He stated his support for the protection of journalism with the Journalist Protection Bill, and termed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) as a ‘group of hypocrites’.

Leader of Opposition for the Senate

He was nominated as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate or Pakistan for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) by Imran Khan on 19 April 2024 and was endorsed by all 19 senators part of PTI. He was appointed to the position on 22 April 2024 securing the endorsement of 21 senators. PTI had boycotted the election of the Chairman of the Senate due to ongoing polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Shibli is serving as opposition leader alongside the Chairman of the Senate, Yusuf Raza Gillani and Leader of the House in the Senate, Ishaq Dar.

As opposition leader, he requested that separate seats should be allotted to the government and the opposition lawmakers and as per ''The News International'', he stated that "Unfortunately, this illegitimate government is using Parliament as a shield merely to preserve its unjust mandate. The government does not even have a two-third majority for constitutional amendments 26th amendment">Twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan">26th amendmentand is trying to secure it by abducting our members." In May 2024, PTI member Sher Afzal Marwat denounced Shibli Faraz and Omar Ayub for not allowing him to meet with Imran Khan, stoking tensions within the PTI. As opposition leader, Shibli Faraz stated that India was Pakistan's enemy country, but also praised the country for its electoral process, which he stated had no frontline rigging, and asked why Pakistan could not have similar free and fair elections. He criticized the government for its 2024-25 federal budget which he declared as "anti-people".

2022 helicopter incident

On 20 September 2022, Faraz was aboard a helicopter with Imran Khan and 2 others which was leaving Chakwal after a political rally by Khan when the pilot of the plane fell ill. Faraz, a former pilot, took over and safely landed the helicopter.

See also

*Imran Khan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faraz, Shibli
Living people
Science ministers of Pakistan
People from Kohat District
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf politicians
Pakistani senators (14th Parliament)
Year of birth missing (living people)
Hindkowan people
Information ministers of Pakistan
Cadet College Kohat alumni
Edwardes College alumni
University of Los Andes (Colombia) alumni