President Asif Ali Zardari Religion Islam Residence Sargodha, Pakistan Preceded by Adnan Khawaja | Deputy Tariq Shafi Chak Name Mumtaz Kahloon | |
 | ||
Born 1 November 1956 (age 67)
Sialkot, Pakistan ( 1956-11-01 ) Alma mater University of the Punjab | ||
Education University of the Punjab Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani Political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | ||
Mohammad Mumtaz Akhtar Kahloon (born 1 November 1956) is the District President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Sargodha District. He has also served as the Chairman of the National Vocational and Technical Education Commission of Pakistan. He was appointed to this latter position by the incumbent Pakistani Prime Minister, Yousef Raza Gilani on 21 December 2010.
Contents
Political career
Mumtaz Akhtar Kahloon has been politically active from a young age. He campaigned for his uncle, Chaudhry Mumtaz Ahmed Kahloon, both in Provincial Assembly of the Punjab elections during the 1970s and in the 1990 and 1993 polls for the National Assembly of Pakistan. He was an active member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Youth Wing.
In early 1996, Kahloon alleged large-scale corruption among PPP office-holders and left the party. He briefly joined the Jamaat-e-Islami party as he was intrigued by the teachings of the theologian Abul Ala Maududi before announcing in late 2006 that he was joining Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N). He frequently met and discussed the future policies with the exiled leadership of PML-N in Saudi Arabia and was close to the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mian Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law. At the end of 2007, Kahloon advised Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Nisar Ali Khan and Ahsan Iqbal to contest the 2008 elections soon after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. In the 2008 elections, Kahloon and his brother, Ijaz Ahmed Kahloon, supported Rizwan Gill in his successful attempt to win Punjab Provincial Assembly seat PP-34 as a PML-N candidate. This support was given despite Ijaz Kahloon being rejected for the candidacy.
In the summer 2010, Gill was disqualified from the Punjab Assembly on the grounds of a fake university degree. He was unsuccessful in challenging the decision in the Pakistan Supreme Court and thus the PP-34 seat in Sargodha became vacant. Although Kahloon again approached the senior party leadership to obtain the nomination of his brother as candidate, the party decided to prefer Gill's cousin, Tabraiz Gill. This caused the Kahloon brothers to decide that Ijaz would contest as an independent candidate in the by-election on 26 July 2010. Ijaz Kahloon won that election, defeating both the PML-N candidate and Fiaz Otthi of the PPP.
On 1 August 2010, after the election but before Ijaz Ahmed Kahloon had taken his seat in parliament, the two brothers re-joined the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP). They had been asked to do so by various senior political figures.
On 16 March 2013, Mumtaz Kahloon left the PPP, alleging that he had witnessed corruption and nepotism among PPP government ministers. He joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf under the leadership of Imran Khan. He contested the 11 May 2013 polls for the National Assembly of Pakistan from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party ticket from NA-66 and was the runner-up in the race.
On 29 June 2014, he was appointed the District President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Sargodha District. And expected candidate for NA 66 for PTI General Elections 2018.
National Vocational and Technical Education Commission
While prime minister, Gilani appointed Mumtaz Kahloon as honorary chairman of the National Vocational and Technical Education Commission (Navtec) in December 2010. He held the post for a little over two years and in April 2011 opposed plans to devolve the responsibilities of the organisation.
During his tenure, Navtec received €20 million in soft loans from Germany, as well as a USD5 million investment from Korea.
Business interests
As of 2014, Kahloon is managing director of the City Link Group of companies, which provide transportation and related services in the Middle East and South Asia.