Fawad Chaudhry

Fawad Ahmed Chaudhry, also known as Fawad Hussain Chaudhry, is a Pakistani politician who is the current Federal Minister for Science and Technology, in office since 19 April 2019.

Fawad Ahmed Chaudhry
Minister for Science and Technology
Assumed office
18 April 2019
PresidentArif Alvi
Prime MinisterImran Khan
Preceded byAzam Swati
Minister for Information and Broadcasting
In office
20 August 2018 β€“ 18 April 2019
PresidentArif Alvi
Prime MinisterImran Khan
Preceded byMaryam Aurangzeb
Succeeded byFirdous Ashiq Awan as Special Assistant
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Political Affairs (𝘸π˜ͺ𝘡𝘩 𝘴𝘡𝘒𝘡𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘧 π˜”π˜ͺ𝘯π˜ͺ𝘴𝘡𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘡𝘒𝘡𝘦)
In office
July 2012 β€“ March 2013
PresidentAsif Ali Zardari
Prime MinisterRaja Pervaiz Ashraf
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Information and Political Affairs (𝘸π˜ͺ𝘡𝘩 𝘴𝘡𝘒𝘡𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘧 π˜”π˜ͺ𝘯π˜ͺ𝘴𝘡𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘡𝘒𝘡𝘦)
In office
April 2012 β€“ June 2012
PresidentAsif Ali Zardari
Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gillani
Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
Assumed office
13 August 2018
Preceded byNawabzada Raja Matloob Mehdi
ConstituencyNA-67 (Jhelum-II)
Majority10,607
Personal details
BornDina Jhelum
NationalityPakistani
Political partyPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (2016–Present)

Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (2013–2016)

Pakistan Peoples Party (2012–2013)

All Pakistan Muslim League (–2012)
RelativesChaudhry Altaf Hussain (uncle)[1]
Chaudhry Iftikhar Hussain (uncle)[1]
Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain (uncle)[1]

Chaudhry Mohammad Awais Grand Father

Chaudhry Farrukh Altaf Cousin
Parliament House

Previously, he was the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting from 20 August 2018 to 18 April 2019. He has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018. He is a member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's core committee since 04 June 2019.

Previously, he has also served in the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as Special Assistant for information and political affairs, and Political Affairs, respectively, between April 2012 and March 2013.

Journalistic career

He hosted Khabar Kay Pechay on Neo News. In March 2015 he took an interview of Syed Mustafa Kamal.[2]

Personal life

He was born in Dina, Pakistan.[3] He is lawyer by profession, and worked as a political analyst and an anchor for several media organizations.[4]

Political career

He ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as an independent candidate from Constituency PP-25 (Jhelum-II) in 2002 Pakistani general election but was unsuccessful. He received only 161 votes and lost the seat to Chaudhry Tasneem Nasir, a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) who received 38,626 votes.[5]

In January 2012, he resigned as media coordinator of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML).[6] In March 2012, he quit APML and joined Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).[7] In April 2012, he was inducted into the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and was appointed as special assistant to Prime Minister for information and political affairs with the status of a minister of state[8] where he continued to serve until June 2012 when[9] the federal cabinet was dissolved following the disqualification of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani.[10] In July 2012, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was elected Prime Minister[11] and Chaudhry was re-inducted into the federal cabinet. He was appointed as Special Assistant for Prime Minister on Political Affairs[12] where he served until March 2013.[13]

He ran for the seat of the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of PML-Quaid from NA-63 (Jhelum-II) in 2013 Pakistani general election but was unsuccessful. He received 34,072 votes and lost the seat to Malik Iqbal Mehdi Khan. In the same election, he also ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as an independent candidate from Constituency PP-24 (Jhelum-I) but was unsuccessful. He received only 82 votes and lost the seat to Raja Muhammad Awais Khan.[14]

In June 2016, he joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).[15][16]

He ran for the seat of the National Assembly as a candidate of PTI from Constituency Constituency NA-63 (Jhelum-II) in by-election held in August 2016 but was unsuccessful. He received 74,819 votes and lost the seat to Nawabzada Raja Matloob Mehdi.[17]

In November 2016, he was appointed as the spokesperson of PTI.[18] In March 2018, he was given the additional charge of Secretary Information of PTI after the resignation of Mr. Shafqat Mahmood.[19][20][21]

In June 2018, he was allocated PTI ticket to contest the 2018 Pakistani general election from Constituency NA-67 (Jhelum-II).[22] An election tribunal rejected the nomination papers of Chaudhry after a petition was filed claiming Fawad had not paid agriculture tax.[23] The Lahore High Court allowed Chaudhry to contest the election after he filed an appeal in high court against the election tribunal's decision.[24][25]

He was elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PTI from Constituency NA-67 (Jhelum-II) in 2018 general election. He received 93,102 votes and defeated Nawabzada Raja Matloob Mehdi, a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N).[26] In the same election, he was also elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as a candidate of PTI from Constituency PP-27 (Jhelum-III). He received 67,003 votes and defeated Nasir Mehmood, a candidate of PML-N.[27] Following his successful election, he expressed interest to become the Chief Ministers of Punjab in a TV talk show.[28][29]

On 18 August 2018, Imran Khan formally announced his federal cabinet structure and Chaudhry was named as Minister for Information and Broadcasting.[30] On 20 August 2018, he was appointed as Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Imran Khan.[31]

In April 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced a major reshuffle of the federal cabinet and Chaudhry was removed as Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting.[32] He was subsequently appointed as Federal Minister for Science and Technology.[33][34]

In May 2019, Chaudhry launched Pakistan's first official moon-sighting website and issued five-year lunar calendar based on scientific readings of the moon’s movement in a bid to end Pakistan's moon-sighting controversy, however his move was severely criticized by the religious clerics. He is criticized for preferring far left polemic over objective dialogue with legal experts in classical universities [35]

References
  1. "A Potohari family album β€Ή The Friday Times". The Friday Times. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  2. Talky Point (2016-03-14), Khabar Kay Pechay Fawad Chaudhary Kay Saath 17 March 2016 Mustafa Kamal Expose MQM & RAW, retrieved 2019-06-07
  3. "Choosing right man for Punjab CM real test for Imran". The News. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  4. "The Prime Minister's Cabinet". Newsline. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  5. "2002 election results" (PDF). ECP. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  6. "Musharraf's former mediaman joins PPP | The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 9 March 2012. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  7. "Ex-APML spokesman Fawad Chaudhry joins PPP". www.pakistantoday.com.pk. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  8. Newspaper, From the (30 April 2012). "Gilani appoints Fawad Chaudhry as assistant". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  9. "Federal cabinet of Prime Minister Gillani" (PDF). Cabinet division. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  10. "Federal Cabinet stands dissolved after Gilani's disqualification: PPP". Geo News. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  11. "Raja Pervaiz Ashraf elected prime minister, new cabinet sworn in". DAWN.COM. 22 June 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  12. "Fawad made special assistant to PM". The Nation. 15 July 2012. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  13. "Federal cabinet of Prime Minister Ashraf" (PDF). Cabinet division. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  14. "2013 election results" (PDF). ECP. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  15. "Prominent TV anchor Fawad Chaudhry joins PTI - ARYNEWS". ARYNEWS. 8 June 2016. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  16. "Fawad Chaudhry joins PTI, will contest NA- 63 Jhelum by-polls". Daily Pakistan Global. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  17. "PML-N wins NA-63, PP-232 by-elections". The News. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  18. "PTI appoints Fawad Chaudhry as party spokesperson | The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 23 November 2016. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  19. "Vocal Fawad made PTI info secretary". The Nation. 13 February 2018. Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  20. "PTI appoints Fawad Chaudhry as information secretary". ARYNEWS. 12 February 2018. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  21. "Fawad Chaudhry appointed as Secretary Information PTI - Pakistan - Dunya News". Dunya News. Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  22. "PTI finalises 85 NA candidates of Punjab". The Nation. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original on 4 June 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  23. "PTI's Fawad Chaudhry barred from contesting polls". The News. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  24. "PTI's Fawad Chaudhry allowed to contest from NA-67". Geo News. Archived from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  25. "LHC overturns election tribunal decision, allows Fawad to contest polls | The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 28 June 2018. Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  26. "ECP - Election Commission of Pakistan". www.ecp.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  27. "ECP - Election Commission of Pakistan". www.ecp.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  28. "Fawad Chaudhry says would be 'great honour' if Imran Khan names him CM Punjab". Geo News. 27 July 2018. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  29. "PTI's Fawad Chaudhry wishes to become Punjab CM". Daily Pakistan Global. 27 July 2018. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  30. "PM Imran Khan finalises names of 21-member cabinet". DAWN.COM. 18 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  31. "16 ministers from PM Imran Khan's cabinet sworn in". DAWN.COM. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  32. "Fawad Chaudhry, other ministers sacked from posts: sources". www.thenews.com.pk. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  33. "PM appoints Hafeez Sheikh finance adviser amid major cabinet reshuffle". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  34. "PM Imran reshuffles cabinet less than one year into government". DAWN.COM. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  35. "Fawad puts an end to Eid controversy". Daily Times. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
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