Alaminsorker at 21:21, 24 April 2026

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{{Short description|President of Pakistan from 1973 to 1978}}
{{distinguish|Fazal Ilahi}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Fazal Elahi
| native_name = فضل الٰہی
| honorific_prefix = [[His Excellency]]
| order = 5th
| office = President of Pakistan
| image = [[File:Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry portrait.png|230px]]
| caption = Official portrait, {{circa|1973}}
| predecessor = Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
| prime_minister = [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]]
| successor = [[Zia-ul-Haq]]
| order2 = 6th
| office2 = Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan
| predecessor2 = [[Mohammad Afzal Cheema]]
| party = [[Pakistan People's Party|PPP]] (1969–1978)
| other_party = [[All-India Muslim League|AIML]] (1942–1947)<br />[[Muslim League (1947–1958)|ML]] (1947–1958)<br />[[Convention Muslim League|CML]] (1962–1969)
| deputy1 = Mohammad Haneef Khan
| order1 = 8th
| office1 = Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan
| predecessor1 = Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
| successor1 = [[Sahibzada Farooq Ali]]
| term_end2 = 25 March 1969
| term_start2 = 12 January 1965
| successor2 = [[A. T. M. Abdul Mateen]]
| office3 = [[Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of West Pakistan]]
| term_start3 = 20 May 1956
| term_end3 = 7 October 1958
| predecessor3 = ''Position established''
| successor3 = Mubin-ul-Haq Siddiqui
| office4 = Member of the [[National Assembly of Pakistan]]
| term_start4 = 14 April 1972
| term_end4 = 13 August 1973
| constituency4 = [[NA-63 Gujrat-II|NW-36 (Gujrat-II)]]
| term_start5 = 12 June 1965
| term_end5 = 25 March 1969
| constituency5 = [[NA-62 Gujrat-I|NW-24 (Gujrat-I)]]
| term_start6 = 8 June 1962
| term_end6 = 7 June 1965
| constituency6 = [[NA-63 Gujrat-II|NW-24 (Gujrat-II)]]
| office7 = Member of the [[West Pakistan#Government|Provincial Assembly of West Pakistan]]
| term_start7 = 19 May 1956
| term_end7 = 7 October 1958
| constituency7 = [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]]
| office8 = [[Provincial Assembly of the Punjab|Member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab]]
| term_start8 = 7 May 1951
| term_end8 = 14 October 1955
| constituency8 = [[PP-33 Gujrat-VII|Gujrat-VII]]
| term_start9 = 15 August 1947
| term_end9 = 25 January 1949
| constituency9 = Gujrat-VII
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1904|1|1}}
| birth_place = [[Marala]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], British India
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1982|6|2|1904|1|1}}
| death_place = [[Lahore]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], Pakistan
| alma_mater = {{ubl|[[Aligarh Muslim University]] (LLB)|[[University of the Punjab]] (MA)}}
| term_start = 14 August 1973
| term_end = 16 September 1978
| term_start1 = 15 August 1972
| term_end1 = 13 August 1973
| native_name_lang = ur
}}
'''Fazal Elahi Chaudhry'''{{efn|{{langx|pnb|فضل اِلٰہی چوہدری}}, {{lang|pa|Fazal Ilāhī Cauhdrī}}, {{IPA|pa|ˈfəzəl ɪläːɦiː ˈt͡ʃɔːɦdɾiː|pron}}<br />{{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|فضل الٰہی چودھری}}}}}} (1 January 1904{{Snd}}1 June 1982) was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fifth [[president of Pakistan]] from 1973 until his resignation in 1978, due to [[Zia-ul-Haq]]'s [[Martial law in Pakistan|martial law]] following the [[1977 Pakistani coup d'état|1977 coup d'état]] which overthrew [[Second Zulfikar Ali Bhutto government|Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's government]]. He was the first legislatively-elected president in the country's history, serving as a constitutional [[figurehead]].<ref name="dunyanews.tv">{{Cite web |title=The Democratically Elected and the Military Presidents of Pakistan |url=https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/455404-Presidential-Election-Democratically-Elected-Military-President-Pakistan |access-date=8 April 2022 |website=Dunya News|date=14 February 2008 }}</ref>

Born in [[Kharian Tehsil|Kharian, Punjab]], Chaudhry received his higher education at the [[Aligarh Muslim University]] and the [[University of the Punjab]]. He established his [[law firm]] in [[Lahore]] and further practised [[civil law (common law)|civil law]]. Entering early district-level administration in 1930, he was elected to the Gujrat District Board, unopposed. In 1942, he joined the [[All-India Muslim League]] and was elected the party president within the [[Punjab Muslim League]] for [[Gujrat District]]. He became active in the [[Pakistan Movement]] and took part in the [[1946 Indian provincial elections]] in [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]].

Following Pakistan's independence, Chaudhry was appointed the [[parliamentary secretary]] and later the [[Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training|education]] and [[Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination|health minister]] within the [[Cabinet of Pakistan|central cabinet]] in 1951. He was elected to the [[Provincial Assembly of the Punjab|West Punjab Assembly]] from Gujrat District in the [[1951 Punjab provincial election|1951 provincial election]]; and represented [[Pakistan and the United Nations|Pakistan in the United Nations]] in 1952. Being elected to the [[West Pakistan#Government|West Pakistan Assembly]] in 1956, Chaudhry served as its speaker until the [[1958 Pakistani military coup|1958 coup d'état]] when the legislature was suspended. He joined the [[Convention Muslim League]] and was elected in the [[1965 Pakistani general election|1965 election]] to the [[National Assembly of Pakistan|National Assembly]], serving as the legislature's [[Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan|deputy speaker]] until 1969 when [[Yahya Khan]] declared martial law and [[Constitution of Pakistan of 1962#Demise|suspended the 1962 constitution]]. Chaudhry joined the [[Pakistan Peoples Party]] and contested the [[1970 Pakistani general election|1970 election]], being elected once again to the National Assembly and later getting elected as its [[Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan|speaker]] in 1972.

Under the [[Constitution of Pakistan|1973 constitution]], Chaudhry contested the [[1973 Pakistani presidential election|1973 presidential election]] as a candidate of the Peoples Party against the opposition coalition's contestant [[Khan Amirzadah Khan]] of the [[National Awami Party (Wali)]]; which he won with an absolute [[Electoral College (Pakistan)|electoral college]] majority. He was sworn in as the president on 14 August 1973, becoming the first [[Punjabis|ethnic Punjabi]] to hold the office. He succeeded [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] as president, who was sworn in as the [[Prime Minister of Pakistan|prime minister]]. He served as a figurehead as the presidency, under the newly-promulgated constitution, had become a ceremonial position with executive authority being vested in the prime minister's position. With the success of the 1977 coup d'état, the Bhutto-led federal government, alongside all [[Provincial governments of Pakistan|provincial governments]], was overthrown by Zia-ul-Haq, who assumed the position of [[chief martial law administrator]]; but Chaudhry continued his presidency with no influence over [[Government of Pakistan|governmental]], [[Pakistan Armed Forces|military]] and national affairs. Due to contentious relations with the [[Presidency of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq|Zia-led military government]], he resigned from the presidency in September 1978, which was then assumed by Zia-ul-Haq.

Establishing himself from district-level administration to [[Politics of Pakistan|national politics]] and [[Diplomacy|international diplomacy]], Chaudhry remained a well-respected politician and legislator throughout his [[#Political career|political career]]; and played his constitutionally nominal role as president. He died in June 1982 in Lahore at the age of 78.

==Early life and education==
Fazal Elahi Chaudhry was born on 1 January 1904 into an influential [[Punjabis|Punjabi]] family of [[Muslim Gujjars]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Humaira |first=Dar |last2=Qudsia |first2=Batool |last3=Khan |first3=Mumtaz Ali |last4=Imran |first4=Alam |date=July 2020 |title=The Role of Biradarism in Punjab Politics: A Case Study of Sialkot |url=https://www.prdb.pk/article/the-role-of-biradarism-in-punjab-politics-a-case-study-of-s-8060 |journal=Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan |volume=57 |issue=03 |pages=74 |via=[[University of the Punjab|Punjab University]], Pakistan}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jalal |first=Ayesha |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Oxford_Companion_to_Pakistani_Histor/imQ7P8OITwQC?hl=en |title=The Oxford Companion to Pakistani History |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-940734-7 |pages=217 |language=en |quote=Ilahi, Chaudhry Fazal Illahi (1904-1982). Chaudhry Fazal Ilahi was born into a Gujjar family of Gujrat district.}}</ref> in the village of [[Marala]] in the [[Kharian Tehsil]] of [[Gujrat District]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]].

After receiving his early education from [[Kharian]], Chaudhry joined the prestigious [[Aligarh Muslim University]] in 1920 and moved to the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tareekh e Pakistan - Deat of Fazal Elahi Choudhry (فضل الٰہی چوہدری کی وفات) {{!}} Online History Of Pakistan |url=https://www.tareekhepakistan.com/detail?title_id=698&dtd_id=830 |access-date=8 April 2022 |website=www.tareekhepakistan.com |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307093900/https://www.tareekhepakistan.com/detail?title_id=698&dtd_id=830 |url-status=dead }}</ref> receiving his [[Bachelor of Law|LLB]] in [[Civil law (common law)|civil law]] in 1924. Thereafter, Chaudhry returned to Punjab, settling in the capital [[Lahore]], and attended the [[University of the Punjab]]'s post-graduate school in law and [[political science]]. In 1925, Chaudhry obtained his [[Master of Arts|MA]] in political science in 1925, and the advanced [[Master of Law|LLM]] in Law and Justice, in 1927.

After completing his education, Chaudhry established his law firm in Lahore, advocating for civil liberties, and went back to [[Gujrat, Pakistan|Gujrat]], and started practising civil law.

==Political career==

=== Early years (1942–1956) ===
In 1930, Chaudhry started taking interest in politics and participated in the [[1930 Indian general election]] for the Gujrat District Board and was elected unopposed.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |title=Former Pakistani President Chaudhry Fazal Elahi died Tuesday of... |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/06/01/Former-Pakistani-President-Chaudhry-Fazal-Elahi-died-Tuesday-of/1841391752000/ |access-date=8 April 2022 |work=UPI |date=1 June 1982 |language=en}}</ref> He joined the [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] in 1942. In 1945, he was elected from Gujrat as the President of Muslim League. He took part in the [[1946 Indian provincial 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]], he was given the post of Parliamentary Secretary, and was included in [[Liaquat Ali Khan government|Liaquat Ali Khan's cabinet]], serving as the [[Minister for Education (Pakistan)|education]] and [[Ministry of Health (Pakistan)|health]] minister.

He further joined [[Pakistan Ambassador to the United Nations|Pakistan permanent representative]]'s delegation to the United Nations in 1951.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry {{!}} The Asian Age Online, Bangladesh |url=http://dailyasianage.com/news/65092/?regenerate |access-date=8 April 2022 |website=The Asian Age |language=en}}</ref> 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.

=== Parliamentary roles (1956–1972) ===
In the 1956 elections, he was elected as member of the West Pakistan Assembly. Chaudhry served as the first [[List of speakers of the West Pakistan Legislative Assembly|Speaker of the West Pakistan Legislative Assembly]] from 20 May 1956 to 7 October 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 [[1965 Pakistani presidential election|1965 presidential election]], he was elected as the [[Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan|Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly]], a role he served in till 1969.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Toothless lions? {{!}} Special Report {{!}} thenews.com.pk |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/928881-toothless-lions |access-date=8 April 2022 |website=www.thenews.com.pk |language=en}}</ref>

He was elected as member of the [[National Assembly of Pakistan|National Assembly]] in 1970 on the ticket of the [[Pakistan Peoples Party]], and was later elected as the [[Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan|Speaker of the National Assembly]] in 1972.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Assembly of Pakistan |url=https://na.gov.pk/en/content.php?id=23 |access-date=8 April 2022 |website=na.gov.pk}}</ref> He ended up joining the Pakistan Peoples Party.

== Presidency ==
He contested the Presidential Elections of 1973 against [[Khan Amirzadah Khan]] of [[National Awami Party|NAP]] and all opposition parties, and was elected president in 1973 (receiving 139 votes against Khan's 45),<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 August 1973 |title=New President of Pakistan Named in Government Shift |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/11/archives/new-president-of-pakistan-named-in-government-shift.html |access-date=8 April 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> when the head of the PPP, [[Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto]] was made [[Prime Minister of Pakistan|prime minister]]. He was the first [[Punjabi people|ethnic Punjabi]] president of the country.

Chaudhry was largely a [[figurehead]], and was the first Pakistani President with less power than the Prime Minister.<ref name="dunyanews.tv"/><ref>{{Cite news |title=Dr Alvi is third Pak president to assume charge at the age of 69 |language=en |website=www.thenews.com.pk |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/364169-dr-alvi-is-third-pak-president-to-assume-charge-at-the-age-of-69 |access-date=8 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KZ9CAQAAIAAJ |title=Current World Leaders: almanac |date=1977 |publisher=Almanac of Current World Leaders |language=en}}</ref> This was due to the new [[Constitution of Pakistan|constitution of 1973]] that gave more powers to the Prime Minister. Previously, the President had been the chief executive of Pakistan and had the power to appoint [[Prime Minister of Pakistan|Prime Minister]]. After [[Operation Fair Play]] - a codename of the operation to remove Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from power - Chaudhry continued his presidency but had no influence in the [[Government of Pakistan|government operations]] or the [[Pakistan Military|military]] and [[Politics of Pakistan|national affairs]].

=== Resignation ===
After contentious relations with the [[Pakistan Armed Forces|military]], Chaudhry decided to resign from his post<ref name=":0" /> despite the urging of the [[Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan)|Chief of Army Staff]] and [[Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee|Chairman]] of [[Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee|Joint Chiefs of Staff]]. On 16 September 1978, Chaudhry handed the charge of the [[Aiwan-e-Sadr|presidency]] to ruling military general [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq|Zia-ul-Haq]] who succeeded him as the sixth president, in addition to being the [[Chief Martial Law Administrator]] and the [[Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan)|Chief of Army Staff]].

==Death==
Chaudhry died of a heart ailment on 1 June 1982 at the age of 78 in [[Lahore|Lahore, Punjab]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 June 1982 |title=Fazal Elahi Dies at 78; Pakistani Ex-President |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |agency=UPI |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/02/obituaries/fazal-elahi-dies-at-78-pakistani-ex-president.html |access-date=8 April 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090402114442/http://therepublicofrumi.com/47.htm Chronicles Of Pakistan]

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]]}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|[[Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan|Speaker of the National Assembly]]}}|years=1972–1973}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sahibzada Farooq Ali]]}}
|-
{{s-ttl|title=[[President of Pakistan]]|years=1973–1978}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Presidents of Pakistan}}
{{Speaker National Assembly Pakistan}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaudhry, Fazal Elahi}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Pakistani politicians]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:Punjabi Muslims]]
[[Category:People from Punjab, Pakistan]]
[[Category:Aligarh Muslim University alumni]]
[[Category:First Pakistani Cabinet]]
[[Category:Pakistan Movement activists]]
[[Category:People from Kharian]]
[[Category:Presidents of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Pakistani landowners]]
[[Category:Speakers of the National Assembly of Pakistan]]
[[Category:University of the Punjab alumni]]
[[Category:Pakistan People's Party politicians]]
[[Category:Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University alumni]]
[[Category:Deputy speakers of the National Assembly of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Pakistani MNAs 1972–1977]]
[[Category:Pakistani MNAs 1962–1965]]
[[Category:Punjab, Pakistan MLAs 1951–1955]]
[[Category:Members of the Provincial Assembly of West Pakistan]]
[[Category:Speakers of the Provincial Assembly of West Pakistan]]
[[Category:People from Punjab Province (British India)]]
[[Category:Muslim Gujjars]]
[[Category:Pakistani MNAs 1965–1969]]
[[Category:20th-century landowners]]

Fazal Elahi Chaudhry - Revision history

Alaminsorker at 21:21, 24 April 2026