Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

MNA Shahid Khaqan Abbasi شاہد خاقان عباسی
Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 June 2013
President	Mamnoon Hussain
Prime Minister	Nawaz Sharif
Preceded by	Asim Hussain
Minister for Commerce
In office 31 March 2008 – 13 May 2008
Prime Minister	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Minister for Defence Production
In office 31 March 2008 – 13 May 2008
Prime Minister	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Chairman of the Pakistan International Airlines
In office 27 December 1997 – 12 October 1999
Preceded by	Air Vice Marshal Farooq Umar
Succeeded by	Saeed Ahmad
Personal details
Citizenship	Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistan
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles (BSc) George Washington University (MEng)
Profession	Electrical engineer
Religion	Islam

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (Urdu: شاہد خاقان عباسی) is a Pakistani politician who is the current Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources in the third Sharif's ministry.^[1] A member of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Abbasi previously briefly held the cabinet portfolio of Minister for Commerce^[2] and Ministry of Defence Production^[3] in the Gillani ministry in 2008.^[4]

Abbasi is an elected member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since 1988, representing Rawalpindi.^[4][5] Reportedly, he is the owner of Airblue;^[4][6] and previously served as Chairman of Pakistan International Airlines from 1997 to 1999 during the second Sharif's ministry.^[7]

Education

Abbasi studied at the Lawrence College Ghora Gali in Murree. In 1978, Abbasi attended the University of California, Los Angeles to study electrical engineering^[8] from where he attained Bachelor of Science.^[8] In 1985, he attended the George Washington University where he gained Master of Engineering in electrical engineering, and qualified for the professional engineer certificate.^[8]

Graduating from the George Washington University, Abbasi worked for the various projects in the United States before moving to Saudi Arabia to perform engineering works for various energy projects in Saudi oil industry.^[8]

Political career

Abbasi was elected as the member of National Assembly for this first time in Pakistani general elections, 1988 after the death of his father Khaqan Abbasi who was the then minister for production.^[4]

He was elected as member of the National Assembly in Pakistani general elections, 1990 for the second time and made parliamentary secretary for defence. In Pakistani general elections, 1993 he was elected for the third time during which he performed his duties as the chairman of National assembly Standing Committee on Defense^[9] and again in Pakistani general elections, 1997 for the fourth time.^[4]

In 1997, then Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif appointed Abbasi as the chairman of the Pakistan International Airlines where he served until 1999.^{[7][8][9][10]} In October 1999, he was arrested and his tenure was terminated after the 1999 Pakistani coup d'état in which then Chief of Army Staff, Pervez Musharraf, overthrew elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his existing elected government.^[4]

In Pakistani general elections, 2002, he lost to Murtaza Satti of the Pakistan People Party for the first time.^[4] In 2003, Abbasi founded airblue where he served as its first chairman until 2007.^[9][11] Later he became chief operating officer of the airline.^[12] Reportedly, Abbasi is the owner of the airline but he denies it saying that he had no shareholding in Airblue and had not visited its office for over two years.^[6][13]

In Pakistani general elections, 2008, he was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly for the fifth time and briefly held the cabinet portfolio as Minister for Commerce^[2][4] and Minister for Defence Production^[3] in the Gillani ministry in 2008 however, his tenure was short-lived due to PML-N's decision to leave the Pakistan Peoples Party led collation government.^[4][8]

In Pakistani general elections, 2013, Abbasi re-elected as member of the National Assembly from constituency NA-50 for the sixth time on the PML-N seat.^[14] Upon PML-N victory in the 2013 general elections, he was appointed as Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources.^[1]

References

1. Hussain, Tayyab (8 June 2013). "25-member cabinet takes oath". Pakistan Today. Pakistan Today. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
2. "Gilani to sit on resignations till Asif's return: Decision final: Nisar". DAWN.COM. Dawn. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
3. Asghar, Raja (31 March 2008). "Swearing-in today to mark belated birth of cabinet". DAWN.COM. Dawn. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
4. Newspaper, From the (17 June 2013). "MNA, MPA from Murree land key ministries". Dawn. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
5. Abbasi, Abid Fazil (4 May 2013). "Tough contest for Shahid Khaqan in NA-50". DAWN.COM. Dawn. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
6. "Abbasi accused of making money in wake of PIA crisis - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
7. "Former PIA chairman acquitted". DAWN.COM. Dawn. 14 September 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
8. staff editor. "Honourable Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, MNA". Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
9. Jamil, Farah (7 June 2013). "26 member Cabinet to take oath today". Aaj News. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
10. "Airline industry on the move". Dawn. 10 May 2004. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
11. "Why did ED202 pilot stray to the hills?". Dawn. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
12. "Airblue shows profit". Dawn. 20 December 2006. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
13. Ali, Kalbe (5 February 2016). "Shahid Khaqan accused of cashing in on PIA crisis". DAWN.COM. Dawn. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
14. "Elections 2013: PML-N triumphs in Murree's NA-50 and PP-1 - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2016.