Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry (Urdu: سلطان محمود چوہدری) is an Azad Kashmiri politician who hails from Mirpur. He served as Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir between July 1996 to July 2001 and is currently serving as the President of Azad Kashmir since 25 August 2021.[1][2]
Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry | |
|---|---|
سلطان محمود چوہدری | |
| President of Azad Kashmir | |
| Assumed office 25 August 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Abdul Qayyum Niazi Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Chaudhry Anwarul Haq |
| Preceded by | Masood Khan |
| Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir | |
| In office 30 July 1996 – 24 July 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Abdul Qayyum Khan |
| Succeeded by | Sardar Sikandar Hayat |
| President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Azad Kashmir | |
| In office 6 February 2015 – 9 September 2021 | |
| Chairman | Imran Khan |
| Succeeded by | Sardar Tanveer Ilyas |
| Member of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 3 August 2021 – 25 August 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Himself |
| Succeeded by | Yasir Sultan Chaudhry |
| Constituency | LA-3 Mirpur-III |
| In office 24 November 2019 – 30 July 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed |
| Succeeded by | Himself |
| Constituency | LA-3 Mirpur-III |
| In office 1996 – 25 July 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Arshad Mahmood Ghazi |
| Succeeded by | Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed |
| Constituency | LA-3 Mirpur-III |
| In office 1985–1991 | |
| Preceded by | Chauhdry Noor Hussain |
| Succeeded by | Arshad Mahmood Ghazi |
| Constituency | LA-3 Mirpur-III |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | PTI (2015-present) |
| Other political affiliations | PPP (2005-2015) |
| Children | Yasir Sultan Chaudhry (son) |
| Alma mater | Lincoln's Inn Government Gordon College |
Early life
editSultan Mehmood Chaudhry is the son of the late Kashmiri leader Chaudhary Noor Hussain Jatt who also founded Azad Muslim Conference along with Sardar Ibrahim Khan but after Sardar Ibrahim Khan left the party, he led it alone. He belongs to a Jatt family and his family has contributions in the movement for a free Jammu and Kashmir. He has also been a member of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.[3][2]
After completing his education, he came back from England to Mirpur in 1987 and joined his father's party Azad Muslim Conference and contested elections and won.
Political career
editIn the second elections there, Chaudhry Muhammad Rasheed, Chaudhry Khadim Hussain and Chaudhry Yasin won. Then Sultan Mehmood merged his party with the Liberation league and became its President. Later he left that party and joined Pakistan Peoples Party and became president of Pakistan People's Party for Azad Kashmir. Then he became Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He faced some problems in the PPP which led to him quitting the party. He then founded his own party Peoples Muslim League in 2005 and his party won 5 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Later when Benazir Bhutto addressed the issue, he (Sultan Mehmood)apologised and was allowed to join the party again. He rejoined the Pakistan Peoples Party again but won no seats in the AJK legislative assembly. In February 2015, he joined Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf and became president of its Azad Kashmir chapter.[2]
On 24 November 2019, he became a Member of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in the by-elections in Mirpur. He owns a shopping plaza in Islamabad and his family owns brick-making factories. Many of their properties were sealed by Sardar Abdul Qayyum when he was the Prime Minister.
He joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on 6 February 2015[2] and lost the elections for the first time in 25 years on 21 July 2016.[4]
He was recently elected as the President of Azad Kashmir on 17 August 2021. However in April 2023 his greed to become Prime Minister of the state, cost his son and brother in law their ministry’s [3]
References
edit- ^ "Former Prime Ministers of Azad Kashmir". Government of Azad Kashmir. Archived from the original on 15 July 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Former AJK PM joins PTI". Dawn (newspaper). 6 February 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
- ^ a b "PTI's Barrister Sultan Mahmood elected AJK president". Dawn (newspaper). 17 August 2021.
- ^ Khurram Shahzad (21 July 2016). "PML-N candidate defeats PTI AJK president Barrister Sultan Mahmood". Daily Pakistan (newspaper). Retrieved 17 August 2021.
External links
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