Elahi Bux Soomro

Honorable Elahi Bux Soomro
الٰہی بخش سومرو
16th Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan
In office 16 February 1997 – 20 August 2001
Deputy	Chaudhry Muhammad Jaffar Iqbal
Preceded by	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Succeeded by	Chaudhry Amir Hussain
Personal details
Born	(1926-05-15)15 May 1926 Jacobabad District, Bombay Presidency, British India (now Pakistan)
Died	9 October 2024(2024-10-09) (aged 98) Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Political party	PMLN (1993–2024) Pakistan Muslim League (1962–1993)
Alma mater	Forman Christian College NED University of Engineering and Technology

Elahi Bux Soomro or Illahi Bukhsh Soomro (15 May 1926 – 9 October 2024) was a Pakistani politician and legislator from Shikarpur, Sindh. He was the 16th Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan. He belonged to an influential political family of Sindh. He held several federal ministries, including portfolios of Ministry of Industries and Production, Ministry of Housing & Works, Ministry of Defence Production, Ministry of IT, Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Ministry of Water and Power. He was one of few politicians who have been very close to Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He was a close and childhood friend of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, favourite of Zia-ul-Haq for the post of Prime Minister, the first minister appointed in the cabinet of and by Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Benazir Bhutto used to call him "Uncle", a very close aide to Nawaz Sharif and Ghulam Ishaq Khan, and before 2002 elections, the top army officials had announced his name for the premiership. He was a strong candidate for Prime Minister at numerous times in the 1980s as well.

Civil servant

Soomro remained Director General of the Karachi Development Authority, Managing Director of S.I.T.E, Rector of the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, NED University of Engineering and Technology and Jinnah Medical and Dental College, and above all he made a record of becoming four times Chairman of the Pakistan Engineering Council, each for three-year terms. He was the Chancellor of the Institute of Business Management Karachi.

Nomination for premiership

Before the 2002 elections, the top army officials had announced his name for the premiership but Soomro lost the 2002 election, and claimed the election was not fair.

Personal life and death

Elahi Bux Soomro was born to a Sindhi family of the Soomro tribe on 15 May 1926 in the Jacobabad district.

Soomro died from a cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Karachi, on 9 October 2024, at the age of 98.

See also

• National Assembly of Pakistan
• Politics of Pakistan