 Shaukat Aziz (Urdu: ???? ????), son of Aziz Ahmad, (born March 6, 1949 in
Karachi, Pakistan) is the former Prime Minister of Pakistan from 2004 to 2007.
He became Finance Minister in November 1999 and was handpicked by President
Musharraf for the position of Prime Minister after the resignation of Zafarullah
Khan Jamali on June 6, 2004. He became Prime Minister on August 28, 2004 and
served until November 15, 2007. He became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan
to complete a full term in office.
25th Prime Minister of Pakistan
In office
20 August 2004 – 15 November 2007
President Pervez Musharraf
Preceded by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain
Succeeded by Muhammad Mian Soomro
17th Finance Minister of Pakistan
In office
12 October 1999 – 15 November 2007
Preceded by Ishaq Dar
Succeeded by Salman Shah
Born March 6, 1949 (1949-03-06) (age 58)
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Political party Pakistan Muslim League (Q)
Religion Sunni Islam
Education
Aziz attended Saint Patrick's High School, Karachi and Abbottabad Public School,
Abbottabad. He passed his Intermediate from Government Islamia College, Kasur.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Gordon College, Rawalpindi,
in 1967. He obtained an MBA Degree in 1969 from Pakistani Business School IBA,
Institute of Business Administration, Karachi. It was during his studies at the
IBA that he secured an internship at Citibank and began his banking career.
Career
Citibank executive
In 1969 he joined Citibank, serving in various countries, including Pakistan,
Greece, the United States, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Singapore. He
served as Citibank's head of Corporate and Investment Banking for the Asia
Pacific region and the CEEMEA region (Central & Eastern Europe, the Middle East
and Africa); as Corporate Planning Officer, Citicorp; as Citibank's Chief
Country Officer in Malaysia and, later, in Jordan. He has been a board member of
Citibank subsidiaries, including Saudi American Bank, Citicorp Islamic Bank, and
of several non-profit organizations[1].
Finance Minister
On 26th November 1999 at about 10 pm, few days after the coup, while addressing
a gathering of PakPAC, a political lobbying sub-body of the Association of
Pakistani Physicians of North America (APPNA), Musharraf stated in his dinner
speech that Shaukat Aziz has come to Pakistan with forty other financial experts
who have offered free service to revive the Pakistani economy. Then he asked
Shaukat Aziz to stand up and introduce himself to audience [2]. In a 2007 TV
Aziz said he was called from the USA[citation needed].
In November 1999 Aziz became the government's Minister of Finance with
responsibility for Finance, Economic Affairs, Statistics, Planning and
Development, and Revenue Divisions. As Minister of Finance Aziz also headed the
Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet, the Cabinet Committee on
Investment, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, and the
Cabinet Committee on Privatization.
In 2001 Aziz was declared 'Finance Minister of the Year' by Euromoney and
Banker's Magazine. His term as Finance Minister was associated with accelerating
growth in the Pakistani economy and making it one of the fastest growing in the
world.
Prime Minister
Aziz was named by the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) as the next Prime Minister
after Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali resigned on June 6, 2004.
The post was held by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain while Aziz fulfilled the
constitutional requirement of securing a seat in the lower house of parliament.
Aziz ran from two constituencies, Tharparkar-I in Sindh, and Attock- III,
located west of Islamabad[3]. While campaigning on July 29, 2004 Aziz survived
an assassination attempt in the small town of Fateh Jang in Attock district. A
suicide bomber blew himself up next to a car in which Aziz was travelling,
killing his chauffeur and eight others. However, Aziz continued campaigning and
won from both constituencies. Since he could retain only one seat, he
immediately vacated his Tharparkar seat, preferring to represent Attock, where
he had won by 76,156 votes to 29,497.
Aziz was elected Prime Minister by Parliament on August 27, 2004, by a vote of
191 to 151 in the National Assembly of Pakistan, and was sworn in on August 28,
2004. He retained his position as Minister of Finance, and he presided over an
unprecedented boom in the Pakistani economy.
Aziz left office on November 16, 2007, at the end of the parliamentary term and
became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan who left seat after completion of
parliamentary term of five years. |
