Moonis Elahi

Chaudhry Moonis Elahi (Urdu: چوہدری مونس الٰہی‎; born 12 April 1976) is a Pakistani politician who has been a Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since October 2018. Previously, he was a member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from 2008 to May 2018.

Moonis Elahi
مونس الٰہی
Elahi in November 2014
Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
Assumed office
29 October 2018
ConstituencyNA-69(Gujrat-II)
Member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab
In office
2013 – 31 May 2018
ConstituencyPP-110 (Gujrat-III)
In office
2008–2013
ConstituencyPP-110 (Gujrat-III)
Personal details
Born (1976-04-12) 12 April 1976
Lahore, Pakistan
NationalityPakistani
Political partyPakistan Muslim League (Q)
ParentsChaudhry Pervaiz Elahi (father)
RelativesChaudhry Family
Websitehttp://mooniselahi.org

Early life and education

Elahi was born on 12 April 1976[1] in Lahore, Pakistan to Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.[2] He received a BBA degree in 1999[2] from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.[3] After completing his education, he returned to Pakistan and joined his family business.[3]

Political career

Elahi ran for the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as a candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML (Q)) from two constituencies (Lahore and Gujrat) in the 2008 Pakistani general election. He won the Gujrat constituency but was unsuccessful in the Lahore constituency[3] where he lost the seat to a candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League (N).[4] He served as a member of the following Standing Committees in Punjab Assembly for the term 2008-2013:

  • Standing Committee on Commerce and Investment.

Elahi ran for the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as a candidate of the PML (Q) from two constituencies (Mandi Bahauddin and Gujrat) in the 2013 Pakistani general election and was successful in both. He vacated the Mandi Bahauddin seat to retain his native seat in Gujrat.[5][2][6][7]

He has been a fierce advocate for the Kalbagh Dam Project.[8][9][10] Moonis Elahi is also an outspoken advocate for action against climate change and environmental degradation. Elahi has recently urged the Government of Pakistan to include Environmental Education as a priority subject in the new national curriculum.[11][12] In December 2019, Elahi announced his party's first environmental policy.[13][14]

In September 2018, he was allocated PML-Q ticket to contest a by-election from Constituency NA-69 (Gujrat-II).[15][16]

He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of PML-Q from Constituency NA-69 (Gujrat-II) in by-election held on 14 October 2018.[17][18]

He is serving as a member of the following Standing Committees in National Assembly for the term 2018-2023:

  • Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs
  • Standing Committee on Privatization
  • Standing Committee on Water Resources

After the 2018 Pakistani general election, Pakistan Muslim League (Q) under an agreement had joined the PTI led coalition government.[19][20][21][22] In 2019, differences surfaced between the two coalition partners when PMLQ complained of delay in implementation of the terms in the agreement.[23][24][25][26][27] Elahi met with Prime Minister Imran Khan in a bid to solve the differences. In this meeting the PM asked Elahi for continued PMLQ support to the Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar.[28] Later during a TV talk show Elahi denied rumors of any PTI-Q coalition split.[29][30] However, the deadlock between the coalition partners persists.[31][32]

On February 10, 2020 the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League (Q) leaders met to resolve the issues. Later Moonis Elahi tweeted that PMLQ and PTI alliance will continue.[33][34]

Response to Coronavirus

Prompted by the public fears of being forcibly quarantined despite an inadequate healthcare system and disease testing facilities,[35] Elahi has pleaded with decision-makers to let COVID-19 positive individuals stay at home in self-isolation and to hospitalize them only if they show serious symptoms.[36] He has also launched an outreach drive to educate the general public on coronavirus precautionary measures with the theme "defeating coronavirus is in your own hands".[37] In the wake of the rising number of Coronavirus disease 2019 cases in Gujrat, Pakistan, the local philanthropists and industrialists have donated 13 life-saving ventilators to the city's Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Hospital out of which 7 have been donated by Moonis Elahi.[38]

A 500 bed Mother & Child Care Hospital in Gujrat

The Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar at a meeting held on Monday 22 June, 2020 with Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab and Moonis Elahi member of the National Assembly of Pakistan has in-principle approved to establish a 500 bed Mother and Child Care Hospital in Gujrat, Pakistan. The mega-project has been proposed by Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and Moonis Elahi for providing the much needed facility to the people of Gujrat.[39] [40]

Pakistani Electric Fan Manufacturers Threaten to Shut-Down

Gujrat, Elahi's hometown is the hub (70-75%) of Pakistani electric fan manufacturing industry.[41] Struggling under severe economic and government pressures the Pakistani fan manufacturers threatened to shut-down their factories endangering the livelihood of thousands of families.[42] Elahi set-up and attended a meeting on 25 February 2020 of Pakistan Electric Fan Manufacturers Association with federal Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh to resolve the issues.[43]

NICL corruption scandal

In 2010, Elahi was accused of corruption of Rs 320 million in the NICL scandal[44][45] during his father's tenure as the Chief Minister of Punjab.[3][46] Elahi denied the charges levelled against him.[47] He was declared a proclaimed offender[48] for failure to appear before the investigation committee and as a result, he was arrested and jailed.[3][49] He was later acquitted in 2011 due to inconclusive evidence and in 2012 all charges in the regard were dropped.[50][51][52] Accountability court on 2 January 2020, observing that the prosecution had failed to bring on record any evidence acquitted all others accused in the NICL scandal.[53][54][55][56][57]

A report stated that Elahi had declared the value of his assets at not more than Rs 0.5 million in 2007. However, in 2009, he had assets worth over Rs 700 million.[58]

In 2016, he was named in the Panama Papers for having offshore bank accounts outside Pakistan.[59] However his father claimed that Elahi had nothing to do with offshore accounts.[60] In 2017, National Accountability Bureau begin fresh investigation into Elahi's wealth.[61]

References
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  3. "Chaudhry Moonis Elahi". DAWN.COM. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
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  5. Butt, Waseem Ashraf (16 November 2015). "Mandi Bahauddin election scene: Ruling party MNAs at loggerheads". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  6. Malik, Mansoor (2 June 2013). "• 245 newcomers • Two couples among MPAs: A raft of pledges in PA precinct". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  7. Correspondent, The Newspaper's (13 May 2013). "Shujaat says results beyond expectations". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  8. "Kalabagh Dam will guarantee cheap electricity, says Elahi". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  9. Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (25 June 2015). "'People want early construction of Kalabaghdam'". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  10. "Wasting water: Kalabagh dam only route to prosperity, says Moonis Elahi - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
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  12. "ماحولیات کو تعلیمی نصاب میں لازمی مضمون بنایا جائے، مونس الٰہی". The Nation (in Urdu). 12 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
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  14. "Moot approves environmental policy". The News (in Urdu). 27 December 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
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  40. "وزیراعلیٰ عثمان بزدار سے سپیکر چودھری پرویزالٰہی اور مونس الٰہی کی ملاقات". Urdu Point (in Urdu). 22 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
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  42. "FBR takes notice of raids on houses of fan makers". Dawn News. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  43. "Fan makers complain of FBR 'harassment' to Hafeez Sheikh". Dawn News. 25 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
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