Zartaj Gul Wazir
Minister of State for Climate Change
In office
5 October 2018 – 10 April 2022
PresidentArif Alvi
Prime MinisterImran Khan
MinisterMalik Amin Aslam
Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
In office
13 August 2018 – 17 January 2023
ConstituencyNA-191 (Dera Ghazi Khan-III)
Personal details
Born17 October 1984
Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Political party PTI (2018-present)
Spouse
Humayun Raza Khan Akhwind
​
​
(m. 2010)​
Alma materQueen Mary College
National College of Arts, Rawalpindi
Websitehttps://zartajgulpti.com

Zartaj Gul (Pashto, Urdu: زرتاج گُل ) is a Pakistani politician who served as Minister of State for Climate Change, in Imran Khan ministry from 5 October 2018 until 10 April 2022 when Imran Khan was ousted by a no-confidence motion. She remained a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan between August 2018 and January 2023 she won again in general elections 2024 from DG Khan II with thumping margin of votes .

Early life and education

Gul hails from North Waziristan, born on 17 October 1984 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa[1] to Ahmad Wazir, chief engineer of WAPDA and belongs to Wazir tribe.[2][3]

She obtained her early education in her native town Bannu and Miramshah before moving to Lahore with her family.[3] She attended Queen Mary College for her undergraduate studies and then National College of Arts for her postgraduate studies.[1] She did Textile Designing from National College of Arts.[3]

After completing her education, she joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)[4] and became a volunteer with Insaf Student Forum (ISF) in 2005.[3]

She moved to Dera Ghazi Khan after getting married in 2010.[3]

Political career

Gul ran for the seat of the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of PTI from Constituency NA-172 (Dera Ghazi Khan-II) in 2013 Pakistani general election but was unsuccessful.[4] She received 38,643 against 49,142 votes of Hafiz Abdul Kareem and lost the seat.[5]

She was elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PTI from NA-191 (Dera Ghazi Khan-III) in 2018 Pakistani general election.[6][7][8][9] She received 79,817 votes and defeated Awais Leghari.[10] Again she was elected to the National Assembly as a independent candidate backed by PTI from NA-185 (Dera Ghazi Khan-II) in 2024 Pakistani general election. | https://humnews.pk/election-2024/zartaj-gul-wins/ |access-date=10 February 2024 |language=en))</ref>

On 5 October 2018, she was inducted into the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Imran Khan[11] and was appointed as Minister of State for Climate Change.[12]

Controversy

In June 2019, Gul was criticized by the media for allegedly using her position to influence NACTA in the appointment of her sister as a director in the authority. Gul's principal staff officer wrote an official letter to the Secretary Interior following up on a "telephonic conversation with Ms Zartaj Gul, Minister of State for Climate, regarding the appointment of Ms Shabnam Gul in NACTA".[13] Prime Minister Imran Khan was said to have taken notice of the situation, and asked Gul to withdraw her letter but Gul's sister was still appointed to the position.[14] NACTA later released a statement "clarifying" that the appointment of Shabnam Gul, Zataj Gul's sister, was merit-based even though she had no prior experience in the field.[15] No action was taken against Gul for having sent the letter in the first place even though Imran Khan's special assistant made a statement saying that no one in the PTI government can promote their relatives/friends by using their positions.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b "Female factor: In DG Khan, Zartaj Gul Akhwand set to fight dynastic politics | The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 6 May 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  2. ^ "Women For All Seasons".
  3. ^ a b c d e "Zartaj Gul: breaking barriers in clan politics in southern Punjab | The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Zartaj Gul, a young woman who upended the Legharis' rule". Geo News. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  5. ^ "2013 election result" (PDF). ECP. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Election results: Imran Khan's PTI on top". Geo News. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Live Blog - DAWN.COM". zartajgulpti.com/. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  8. ^ PTI Ki Zartaj Gul Bazi Maar Gain - Election 2018 - Dunya News, Dunya News, retrieved 2023-07-20
  9. ^ Unofficial Result: PTI Zartaj Gul Wins NA-191, Abbtakk, retrieved 2023-07-20
  10. ^ "NA-191 Result - Election Results 2018 - Dera Ghazi Khan 3 - NA-191 Candidates - NA-191 Constituency Details". www.thenews.com.pk. The News. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  11. ^ Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (6 October 2018). "Six federal ministers administered oath". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Notification - 5 October 2018" (PDF). Cabinet Division. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  13. ^ Durrani, Fakhar. "Zartaj Gul made official request to appoint her sister in Nacta". www.thenews.com.pk. The News. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  14. ^ Tribune.com.pk (2019-06-03). "PML-N moves ECP against Zartaj Gul over sister's appointment". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  15. ^ "NACTA CLARIFIES 'MERIT-BASED' APPOINTMENT OF ZARTAJ GUL'S SISTER". arynews.tv. 2019-06-01.
  16. ^ Post, The Frontier. "PM Imran Khan takes notice of Zartaj Gul's letter to NACTA". Retrieved 2023-05-27.
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