Muhammad Ali (politician)

Chaudhry Mohammad Ali
Prime Minister of Pakistan
In office 12 August 1955 – 12 September 1956
Monarch	Elizabeth II (Before 1956)
President	Iskander Mirza (From 1956)
Governor General	Iskander Mirza (before 1956)
Preceded by	Muhammad Ali Bogra
Succeeded by	Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Minister of Defence
In office 12 August 1955 – 12 September 1956
Preceded by	Ayub Khan
Succeeded by	Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Minister of Finance
In office 24 October 1951 – 11 August 1955
Prime Minister	Khawaja Nazimuddin Muhammad Ali Bogra
Preceded by	Malik Ghulam Muhammad
Succeeded by	Amjad Ali
Personal details
Born	(1905-07-15)15 July 1905 Jalandhar, Punjab, British India (now in Punjab, India)
Died	2 December 1980(1980-12-02) (aged 75) Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Nationality	Indian (1905–1947) Pakistani (1947–1980)
Political party	Muslim League
Alma mater	University of the Punjab

Chaudhry Mohammad Ali (Punjabi, Urdu: چوہدری محمد علی‎; 15 July 1905 – 2 December 1980) was Prime Minister of Pakistan and a civil service officer. He led the country for only one year, from 12 August 1955 to 12 September 1956, but was credited with introducing its 1956 Constitution.

His son, Khalid Anwer, is a well-known lawyer and constitutional expert, and a former federal minister for law, justice and human rights and younger son is Dr. Amjad Ahsan Ali is well known doctor.

Early life and career

Ali was born in Jalandhar, India, in 1905 in a noble Arain family. He earned a Master of Science degree from Punjab University in 1927^[1] and was commissioned into the Indian Civil Service.

He began his career in the financial sector of the Indian government and was one of the highest-ranking Muslim civil servants in the British Raj. In 1936, he began working for the Audit and Accounts Service, serving as the state accountant for Bahawalpur.

In 1945, Ali joined the British government and became the first Indian to be appointed financial adviser to the Secretary of State for War, Percy James Grigg. Before India gained its independence in 1947, he worked with Hirubhai M. Patel (a future finance and home minister of India) and Walter John Christie to prepare a document titled The Administrative Consequences of Partition.^[2]

During the Pakistani Movement, Ali was one of two secretaries to the Partition Council, which was presided over by Lord Mountbatten. Upon the formation of Pakistan, he became the secretary general of the new country and was instrumental in setting up a national budget. In 1951, he was promoted to finance minister.

Prime minister

Ali was made prime minister of Pakistan by Governor General Iskander Mirza in 1955, after the removal of Muhammad Ali Bogra. As prime minister, his greatest achievement was the development of the 1956 Constitution, which made Pakistan a republic and was designed to mix democracy with Islam.

Despite this success, Ali was unable to heal rifts within his political party, the Muslim League. Internal divisions led to the formation of a new party, the Republicans. The Republican Party claimed to hold the majority of seats in the National Assembly, but the Muslim League contested this. The Muslim League pressured Ali to check the Republicans, but Ali refused, saying that, as prime minister, he had to prioritize the interests of the nation over those of his party. As the situation deteriorated, he resigned both from the position of prime minister and from the Muslim League.

After resigning as prime minister, Ali remained politically active. He protested against the dictatorship of Ayub Khan and toured East and West Pakistan in an effort to unite democratic forces against Khan's dictatorship.

See also

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

References

External links

• Chronicles Of Pakistan