Chaudhry Muhammad Ali

Chaudhry Muhammad Ali (Punjabi, Urdu: چوہدری محمد علی‎; July 15, 1905 – December 2, 1980) was the fourth Prime Minister of Pakistan and civil service officer, serving from 12 August 1955 until 12 September 1956.

Educated from the Punjab University, Ali passed the entrance exam and gained commissioned in the Indian Civil Service and joined the department of the Audits and Accounts Services while serving as the state accountant to Bhawalpur State in 1936. In 1945, Ali joined the British government and became first Indian to have appointed as Finance adviser to Secretary of State for War Percy James Grigg. During the time of independence, Ali was one of the two secretaries to the Partition Council, presided over by Lord Mountbatten, and opted for Pakistan in 1947.

In 1951, he was appointed second Finance minister of Pakistan and won the slot of Prime minister in 1955. His government lasted only one year but widely regarded to have promulgated the 1956 Constitution with wide scale public approval.

Early life

Ali was born in an Arain family of Jalandhar. He completed his education at Punjab University. Afterwards, he began working in the financial sector of Indian government, and was also one of the highest ranking Muslim civil servants in the British Raj. Prior to independence, Chaudhry Muhammad Ali worked with Haribhai M. Patel future Finance and Home Minister of India and Walter John Christie on the preparation and implementation of the crucial document The Administrative Consequences of Partition.^[1] His son, Khalid Anwer, is a well known lawyer and constitutional expert in Pakistan.

Upon the formation of Pakistan, Ali was made the Secretary General of the new nation and was instrumental to setting up a budget for the fledgling nation. In 1951 he was promoted to Finance Minister. His son Senator Khalid Anwer also served as Federal Minister of Pakistan for Law, Justice and Human Rights.

Prime minister

Four years later, Chaudhry Muhammad Ali was made Prime Minister by Governor General of Pakistan Iskander Mirza in 1955, after the removal of Muhammad Ali Bogra. While Prime Minister, Ali's greatest achievement was the formation of a new constitution for Pakistan, one that made it a republic in 1956. The constitution was extremely famous across Pakistan, and intended to mix democracy and Islam.

Resignation

Despite this success, Chaudhry Muhammad Ali failed at healing rifts within his political party, the Muslim League. Splits within the party led to the formation of a new party, the Republican party. The new party claimed to hold the majority of seats in the National Assembly, while the Muslim League contested this and tried to have Ali check the Republican Party. Despite the demands of his own party, Ali would refuse claiming that as Prime Minister, the interests of the nation, and not of his party were primary to him. As the situation deteriorated, he resigned from both the position of Prime Minister, and from the Muslim League.

See also

• Category:Prime Ministers of Pakistan
• List of Prime Ministers of Pakistan

References

External links

• Chronicles Of Pakistan

Prime Ministers of Pakistan (List) L. A. Khan K. Nazimuddin M. A. Bogra C. M. Ali H. S. Suhrawardy I. I. Chundrigar F. K. Noon N. Amin Z. A. Bhutto M. K. Junejo B. Bhutto G. M. Jatoi N. Sharif B.S. Mazari (acting) N. Sharif M. A. Qureshi (acting) B. Bhutto M. M. Khalid (acting) N. Sharif Z. K. Jamali C. S. Hussain S. Aziz M. M. Soomro (acting) Y. R. Gillani R. P. Ashraf M. H. K. Khoso (acting) N. Sharif