Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry

Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry فضل الہی چودہری
5th President of Pakistan
In office 14 August 1973 – 16 September 1978
Prime Minister	Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Preceded by	Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
Succeeded by	Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
8th Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan
In office August 15, 1972 – August 9, 1973 Acting until April 14, 1973
Preceded by	Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Succeeded by	Sahibzada Farooq Ali
Personal details
Born	1 January 1904(1904-01-01) Gujrat, Punjab, British India
Died	2 June 1982(1982-06-02) (aged 78) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Political party	Peoples Party
Alma mater	Aligarh Muslim University University of the Punjab
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Sunni Islam

Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry (Punjabi, Urdu: فضل الہی چودہری; (January 1, 1904 - June 2, 1982) was the fifth President of Pakistan from August 14, 1973 until his resignation on September 16, 1978.

Early life

Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry was born in a Gujjar family in Marala village, near the city of Kharian, Gujrat District in Punjab province on January 1, 1904. He received his early education from his hometown and went to Aligarh University and later Punjab University from where he got a law degree, and went into practising law. He did his M. A. in Political Science in 1925 and took his degree of Law from the University of Punjab in 1927. After completing his education, he went back to Gujrat and started practising Law. He took part in the election of Gujrat District Board and was elected unopposed.

Political career

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 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, Chaudhry got involved in the new government, moving up to high ranking positions in the National Assembly.

Speaker of the West Pakistan Assembly

After Independence, he was given the post of Parliamentary Secretary. He was later appointed Minister for Education and Health. 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. In the 1956 elections, he was elected as member of the West Pakistan Assembly. Chaudhry was its Speaker May 20, 1956 – October 7, 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 1956 elections, he was elected as the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly.

President of Pakistan

He was elected as member of the National Assembly in 1970 on the ticket of the Pakistan Peoples Party and was later elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly. He ended up joining the Pakistan Peoples Party and was made President in 1973, when the head of the PPP, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was made Prime Minister.

Chaudhry was largely a figurehead, and was the first President with less power than the Prime Minister. This was due to the new constitution of 1973 that gave power to the Prime Minister; previously, the President had been the chief leader of Pakistan and had the power to appoint Prime Minister.

Resignation

Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry remained President until 1978, when he resigned after the military took control of the government under General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. General Zia respected Chaudhry and came to visit him on his deathbed.

Death

Chaudhry died on June 2, 1982. His family since then has taken a very active role in politics.

External links

• Chronicles Of Pakistan
• New York Times Obituary

Political offices
Preceded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto	Speaker of the National Assembly 1972–1973	Succeeded by Sahibzada Farooq Ali
	President of Pakistan 1973–1978	Succeeded by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq

Persondata
Name	Chaudhry, Fazal Ilahi
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 1, 1904
Place of birth	Gujrat, Punjab, British India
Date of death	June 2, 1982
Place of death	Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan