Zahid Hamid (Urdu: زاہد حامد; born 24 October 1947) is a Pakistani politician, and lawyer. A member of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Hamid previously served as the Minister for Law and Justice and Minister of Climate Change in the Third Sharif ministry[1][3] between 2015 and 2017. He briefly served as the Minister of Law and Justice in June 2013 before being appointed as Minister of Science and Technology from June 2013 to November 2014. He again served as Minister for Law and Justice under Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi from August 2017 until he resigned in November 2017.
After graduating from local school, Hamid attended the Punjab University where he studied law. In 1971, he graduated with a LLB. For higher studies, Hamid went to the United Kingdom to attend the Cambridge University.[1] He graduated with a BA with honours in Philosophy and worked on the post-graduate studies. He gained a MA degree where his work contained the fundamentals of philosophy of law.[1] Reportedly, he received his BA Honours and MA from Cambridge University.[4]
In 1970, Hamid passed the CSS exam to join the Central Superior Services (CSS) where he worked with the provincial government of Punjab but resigned in 1978 from the CSS to start career in politics. He set up and managed two industrial units in the food sector from 1978 to 1988.[1]
Hamid started his career as professional lawyer and eventually becoming a senior advocate at the Supreme Court of Pakistan.[1]
In 2008, Hamid joined the PML(N).[7][11] Between 2008 and 2013, he was active member of the PML-N in National Assembly during when the party was in opposition.[5]
In November 2015 he was made Minister of Climate Change[18] and in 2016, Hamid was given the additional portfolio of the Minister of Law and Justice.[13] He had ceased to hold ministerial office in July 2017 when the federal cabinet was disbanded following the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in Panama Papers case decision.[19] Following the election of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as Prime Minister of Pakistan in August 2017, he was inducted into the federal cabinet of Abbasi.[20][21] He was appointed as federal Minister of Law and Justice.[22][23] He stepped down from the ministerial office of Minister for Law and Justice in November 2017, following the 2017 Tehreek-e-Labaik protest.[24][25]
References
^ abcdefghij"Profile"(PDF). mocc.gov.pk/. Ministry of Climate Change. Archived(PDF) from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
^"Detail Information". 11 October 2007. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ abReporter, The Newspaper's Staff (29 March 2016). "Zahid Hamid made law minister". Dawn. Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
^ abZia, Sajid (3 March 2009). "Hamid Nawaz laid to rest". The Nation, 2013. The Nation. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
^Hussain, Tayyab (8 June 2013). "25-member cabinet takes oath". Pakistan Today. Pakistan Today. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2014.