Interview of Moonis Elahi

Moonis Elahi is inspired by the leadership acumen of the father of the nation, Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and rates him as the best leader Pakistan ever had. He is extremely concerned about the lack of leadership at all levels as well as the deteriorating law and order situation in the country but thinks that the major and most important problem of our beloved homeland is the poor economic condition of the country which is directly responsible for all the ills of Pakistan.

According to him, the economy of the country can only be improved by enhancing the standard of education, plugging technological gaps, addressing extremism and other social problems which Pakistan is confronting today.

In a recent interview with the team of “Pakistani Leaders Online” he further added that in order to bring about sustainable development and a stable political system it is imperative on all political factions whether in power or in opposition to work in unison. The policies initiated by former government aiming at the betterment of the country should not be abandoned at once on political grounds by the present government. The consistency of development policies is the only route to ensure achievement of long and short term goals.

Carrying his family tradition of serving the nation, Moonis Elahi is a 3rd generation politician. He is the elder son of Chaudhay Pervaiz Elahi former Chief Minister of Punjab, nephew of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and grandson of Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi who was a very prominent politician of his time. Moonis Elahi was born on 12th April 1976 at Lahore. He studied at Lahore American School, where he studied till 10th grade and from there he moved to the London campus of the same school and graduated from there. He went to pursue his higher education from Wharton School of Business, Pennsylvania USA and did his BBA from there. After the completion of his studies he returned to Pakistan in 1999. He took part in the general election held on 18th February 2008 for the first time and contested from two provincial constituencies. He got narrowly defeated from Lahore PP-152 and won with an overwhelming majority from his native seat PP-110.

He has been an avid sportsman. For his fitness he likes to swim and do regular physical workout. He likes to keep abreast with technological advancements and is fond of using high tech gadgets. Late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is his favourite singer, he likes his music as well as other light music.

His professional commitments include the running of his family business along with his younger sibling Rasikh Elahi. He applies his entrepreneurial skills by actively participating in a variety of business projects being run by his family. He got married in 2005 and has one daughter.

He goes through a variety of newspapers and periodicals every day. On the international horizon, he is inspired by the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew, Mahathir Mohammad and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and rates them as very successful mavericks for their nations. He is impressed with the enthusiasm and dedication of Abdul Sattar Edhi in the social sector and in bringing about relief to common people. But he adds that transparency in relief operations is extremely important for their credibility.

His interests include reading, which is his favourite pastime. Books on history and political science are his favourite among other variety of topics. He likes to read the biographies of successful leaders and their contributions to their nations. Lee Kuan Yew father of Singapore and Lee Iococca are few to quote. His marketing strategy teacher at Wharton School of Business was also a source of great inspiration to Moonis Elahi.