Khawaja Muhammad Asif

Khawaja Muhammad Asif (born 9 August 1949) is a Pakistani politician who has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, since August 2018. Previously, he was a member of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1999 and again from 2002 to 2018 and till date. In May, 2019 he took the charge and became the Parliamentary Leader of PMLN in the National Assembly of Pakistan.

He served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Abbasi cabinet from August 2017 to April 2018 and simultaneously served as the Minister for Defence and Minister for Water and Power in the third Sharif ministry from 2013 to 2017.

Asif began his political career after getting elected to the Senate of Pakistan during the Sharif's first ministry in 1991. Since 1997, he had served as a member of the federal cabinet, in various positions. From 1997 to 1999, he was as the chairman of the Privatization Commission of Pakistan during the second government of Nawaz Sharif. He briefly held the cabinet portfolios of the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources in the Gillani ministry in 2008, with an additional charge as Minister for Sports.

Early life and education
Asif was born on 9 August 1949 in Sialkot, Punjab, to Khawaja Muhammad Safdar. He received his early education at Cadet College Hasan Abdal. He attained his bachelor's degree from Government College Lahore, and an L.L.B. degree from the University Law College, Lahore. Asif is a banker by profession and has worked in the different banks of the United Arab Emirates where he lived for several years until 1999. He has a son and three daughters.

In 2017, he was awarded honorary doctorate degree in International Relations by the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations.

Political career
Asif began his political career in 1991 on returning to Pakistan following the death of his father after living in the United Arab Emirates for many years. In 1991, he was elected to the Senate of Pakistan as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) for three years. He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Constituency NA-110 (Sialkot) in 1993 general election.

He was re-elected to the National Assembly in 1997 general election and was appointed as the chairman of the Privatization Commission of Pakistan with the status of a minister during the second government of Nawaz Sharif. His tenure was terminated following the 1999 coup d'état in which then Chief of Army Staff, Pervez Musharraf, overthrew Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his existing elected government. National Accountability Bureau (NAB) took Asif into its custody on corruption charges after the military takeover but later, he was released for the lack of any evidence against him. Asif came closer to Nawaz Sharif during the Musharraf rule for keeping the PML-N alive.

Asif was re-elected to the National Assembly in 2002 general election. He was re-elected to the National Assembly in 2008 general election, and was briefly appointed as the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources, as well as the Minister of Sports in the Gillani ministry, before his party pulled out of the Pakistan Peoples Party-led coalition government.

In June 2012, a petition admitted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan's registrar stated that Asif holds dual nationality, and hence, according to Pakistan's constitution, he is not eligible to hold public office in Pakistan. Following which the Federal Investigations Agency and the Supreme Court began an investigation pursuing inquiries of Asif's dual nationality charges. The court did not find him guilty of the charges petitioned against him; the petitioner who levelled the charges withdrew the accusations and issued a formal apology. In 2013 Pakistani general election, Asif was re-elected as the member of National Assembly for the fifth time. In June 2013, he was appointed as the Minister of Water and Power and later given additional portfolio of Minister of Defence in November 2013 under Sharif's third ministry. Asif's election was challenged by a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), alleging him for fake votes. On 10 November 2016 Supreme Court dismissed this petition. In 2013, Dawn reported that Asif enjoyed the strong support of his Kashmiri community from his home constituency, Sialkot and was considered close to Nawaz Sharif.

He had ceased to hold ministerial office in July 2017 when the federal cabinet was disbanded following the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after Panama Papers case decision. Following the election of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as Prime Minister of Pakistan, Asif was inducted into the federal cabinet of Abbasi and was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs for the first time. Earlier, Pakistan had no Minister for Foreign Affairs since the PML-N came to power in May 2013 as former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself held the cabinet portfolio of foreign affairs. Asif's appointment was termed controversial by Daily Times for being undiplomatic. However The News welcomed his appointment. It was noted that since the appointment of Asif as foreign minister, Pakistan got a good opportunity to effectively fruitfully tell its point of view to the international community. He was criticised for holding the work permit of the UAE while being the Minister for Foreign Affairs. On 26 April 2018, he was disqualified from holding a public office for life by the Islamabad High Court over possession of the UAE work permit. Asif reacted saying "he will challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court of Pakistan". Later on the same day, he was unseated by the Election Commission of Pakistan as Member of the National Assembly.

Following which Asif challenged his disqualification in the Supreme Court. In June 2018, the Supreme Court suspended the lifetime disqualification and declared the decision of Islamabad High Court null and void, and allowed Asif to contest elections.

He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-73 (Sialkot-II) in 2018 Pakistani general election. He received 116,957 votes and defeated Usman Dar. In May, 2019 he took the charge and became the Parliamentary Leader of PMLN in the National Assembly of Pakistan.