Chaudhry Muhammad Ali (15 July 1905 – 2 December 1982), best known as Muhammad Ali, was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the fourth prime minister of Pakistan from August 1955 till his resignation in September 1956. His government transitioned Pakistan from a British Dominion to an Islamic Republic.
He resigned from the position of Prime Minister, and from the Muslim League as well, when he failed at healing rifts with Muslim League, and a new party, named as Republican Party. His credibility is noted for promulgating the first set of the Constitution of Pakistan lost political endorsement from his party when failing to investigate the allegations on vote rigging and the secret defections in favour of the Republican Party.
Biography
Muhammad Ali was born in Jullundar, Punjab on 15 July 1905 into an Arain Punjabi Muslim family.
After his matriculation, Muhammad Ali showed great aptitude for science, first moving to attend the Punjab University in Lahore where he read and graduated with BSc degree in Chemistry in 1925. In 1927, Muhammad Ali attained MSc in Chemistry from Punjab University, and lectured at the Islamia College until 1928.
In 1928, Muhammad Ali went to join the Indian Civil Service, first working as an accountant at the Audit and Accounts Service and was deputed to audit the Bahawalpur state. In 1936, Muhammad Ali was moved as Private Secretary to James Grigg, the Finance Minister of India, who later appointed him as the First Indian financial adviser when Grigg was appointed as the War Secretary in 1945. In 1946–47, Muhammad Ali was selected to serve as one of two secretaries to the Partition Council presided over by Lord Mountbatten, later appointed as Finance Secretary at the Ministry of Finance. Over this issue of partition, Muhammad Ali worked with H.M. Patel and Walter Christir to prepare a document titled The Administrative Consequences of Partition.
At the time of the India's partition in 1947, Muhammad Ali opted for Pakistan.
After the establishment of Pakistan in 1947, Muhammad Ali was moved as the Finance Secretary under Finance Minister Sir Ghulam Muhammad, along with Victor Turner, but this appointment lasted until 1948 due a cabinet reshuffle. He was appointed as the Federal Secretary at the Establishment Division, and aided greatly in setting up the civil bureaucracy and preparing the nation's first federal budget presented by Finance Minister Sir Ghulam Muhammad in 1951.
Prime Minister of Pakistan
In 1951, Muhammad Ali was appointed as the Finance Minister by Prime Minister K. Nazimuddin and was announced to be kept in the Finance ministry in Bogra's Talent ministry in 1953.
On 11 August 1955, Muhammad Ali was appointed as the Prime Minister of Pakistan by then-Governor-General Iskandar Mirza, upon the dismissal of the Bogra's Talent administration. After taking oath from the Chief Justice M. Munir, Prime Minister Ali placed a great emphasis on drafting of the Constitution of Pakistan, and supported Bogra's One Unit scheme despite the opposition.
He favored French architect Michel Ecochard over Greek architect Constantinos Doxiadis over the planning of new capital in 1955, though the project nonetheless went Doxiadis in 1960s.
It was during his term when the first set of the Constitution of Pakistan was promulgated on 23 March 1956 where the nation-state was declared as Islamic republic with a parliamentary form. His premiership was endorsed by President Iskandar Mirza and the three-party coalition government composing of Awami League, Muslim League and the Republican Party at the National Assembly. In 1955, Prime Minister Ali took over the party presidency.
In July 1956, Muhammad Ali met with the Indian Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru of India in an attempt to settle the key issue that was preventing the normalization of relations between Pakistan and India. This was the issue of Kashmir that had been divided between India and Pakistan in 1948. That issue remains unsettled to this day.