MULTAN-Veteran politician and PTI Vice Chairman Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Hussain Qureshi who is set to take oath on Monday, has the honour to become Foreign Minister of Pakistan for the second time.
Born on June 22, 1956 in a known religious family of Multan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi got his early education from Aitchison College, Lahore and did his Bachelor in Arts (BA) from Forman Christian College, Lahore, followed by Masters in Arts (MA) from Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge.
He is the eldest son of late Punjab governor Makhdoom Sajjad Hussain Qureshi and nephew of former minister Syed Qaswar Gardezi.
Mahkdoom Shah Mehmood started his political career in 1983 as member District Council and won first election in 1985 which was held on non-party basis. He became chairman District Council Multan in 1987 and later remained Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) of Punjab for nine years from 1985 to 1993. He served as Punjab Minister for Planning and Development from 1988 to 1990 and later as Finance Minister from 1990 to 1993. Later, he joined Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and was elected Member National Assembly (MNA) from Multan in 1993. He was made State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs but he lost in 1997 general elections.
From 2000 to 2002, Shah Mehmood Qureshi worked as Multan Nazim and afterwards resigned from the post following advice of the late PPP chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. He again won as MNA in 2002 general elections from Multan by defeating Makhdoom Javed Hashmi.
In 2006, the party made him PPP Punjab president and in 2008 general elections, he retained his MNA seat for third time. Mr Qureshi was appointed Foreign Minister first time by PPP in 2008 and in 2011 the party changed his portfolio and offered him the Water and Power Ministry but he declined.
He parted ways with the PPP around after 20 years and joined PTI under the leadership of now Prime Minister Imran Khan in November 2011. On November 14, 1994 when Imran Khan initiated his fund-raising campaign for Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital from Multan, Makhdoom Shah Mehmood, and late Riaz Hussain Qureshi also stood by him for the noble cause.
In recently held general elections, Shah Mehmood Qureshi won as MNA from Multan and has been nominated member of the yet-to-sworn-in cabinet as Foreign Minister. He is also caretaker shrines of great saints Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya (RA) and Hazrat Shah Rukn-i-Alam (RA). His son Makhdoom Zain Qureshi has elected MNA for the first time on PTI ticket from Multan in 2018 general elections.