Chaudhry Muhammad Ali ( 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.[citation needed] 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.
Chaudhry Muhammad Ali’s greatest achievement was framing the Constitution of 1956 and its approval by the Constituent Assembly. The entire country with great joy and enthusiasm celebrated the promulgation of this Constitution on March 23, 1956. The 1956 Constitution was Islamic and democratic in character, acceptable to people of all parts of the country, and had the blessings of almost all schools of thought.
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.
Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, however, could not come up to the bargaining and the deals necessary to reconcile the various interest groups into accepting the One Unit and the adoption of the Constitution. He proved to be a poor politician who failed to control his own party. This ultimately led to his downfall. His greatest blunder was the selection of Dr. Khan Sahib as Chief Minister of the Unified Province of West Pakistan, despite the opposition of the Muslim League. Dr. Khan Sahib was an old Congressman who had opposed the creation of Pakistan, therefore the Muslim League opposed his appointment. Dr. Khan Sahib, however, enjoyed the support of the President Iskander Mirza. He dropped Muslim League members from his cabinet, and by bringing the dissident Muslim Leagues and other supporters, formed his own party, the Republican Party.
In the Central Government, the Muslim League shared power as a major component of the coalition without being in office in any province. The Republican Party kept growing in number and claimed to be the single largest party in the National Assembly. Prime Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali was urged by the Muslim League to act against the West Pakistan Ministry. Chaudhry Muhammad Ali believed that as a Prime Minister, his actions should be governed by the good of the country and not by the resolution of any party. He believed that he was responsible only to the Cabinet and the Parliament. Thus, he refused the demands of the Muslim League. Disgusted with the scenario, Chaudhry Muhammad Ali resigned as a Prime Minister on September 8, 1956, also resigning from his membership of the Muslim League at the same time. His decision to resign of his own accord is considered as a unique example of political decorum in the history of Pakistan. - See more at: http://storyofpakistan.com/chaudhry-muhammad-ali-becomes-prime-minister/#sthash.pLXCvOSo.dpuf
Death
Died: December 2, 1980, Karachi
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