Mian Muhammad Azhar, a member of the National Assembly from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former Punjab governor, passed away in Lahore on Tuesday after a long illness.
He was the father of PTI leader Hammad Azhar and had been seriously unwell for several months.
Mian Azhar held important roles throughout his long political career.
He served as Punjab’s governor during Nawaz Sharif’s first term as prime minister in the early 1990s and later became the federal commerce minister.
After the 1999 military coup, he helped form the Pakistan Muslim League–Quaid (PML-Q).
Earlier this year, he returned to politics and won the NA-129 (Lahore) seat in the general elections — a seat previously held by his son.
Running as a PTI-backed independent, he defeated PML-N’s Hafiz Nauman by a wide margin.
Unofficial results showed Mian Azhar got 103,718 votes, while Hafiz Nauman received 71,540.
In 2018, Hammad Azhar won the same seat with 105,734 votes.
ondoling the death of the senior PTI leader, Imran Ismail took to X and wrote: “Deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Mian Muhammad Azhar, MNA of PTI and a distinguished political figure. My heartfelt condolences to my dear friend @Hammad_Azhar and his family during this difficult time. May Allah grant him the highest place in Jannah. Ameen.”
