Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon

Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon (born November 10, 1962) is a Saraiki politician. He is known for his work in the Jalalpur Pirwala & Shujabad tehsils of Multan District. As of 2016 he was the Member of National Assembly from NA-153 on the platform of PML-N.

Early life

Noon was born in Multan, and is the son of Rana Muhammad Aslam Noon. He received an M.A. degree in Political Science in 1983, and an LL.B. in 1988 from Baha-ud-Din Zakariya University, Multan. In 1989, he received an M.A. in History from the University of the Punjab, Lahore.

Career

Noon was elected Member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab,^[1][2] contesting the election on both the national and provincial seats in the General Elections of 2002.^[3][4] He won both seats, but was defeated for the national seat in a recount. He worked as Minister for Agriculture Marketing from November 24, 2003 to November 30, 2006.^[5] He functioned as Minister for Labour and Human Resource from December 1, 2006 until December 2007. He served as a member of the standing committee on Planning and Development and on the Committee on Privileges.

In 2008 Noon contested the National Assembly seat from NA-153. He was again defeated on a recount, receiving 68,762 votes. During the 2013 General Elections, he fought for NA-153 on a Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) ticket and exceeded 92,000 votes—the second highest number of votes on a PPPP ticket in all provinces. He still lost, due to alleged vote rigging. As a result, this constituency was delayed for five days. Subsequently, he attacked his opponent for faking his educational qualifications in the Higher Courts and Election. Finally the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the tribunal and disqualified his opponent, Dewan Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, for life. Noon objected to the three year sentence for his opponent. Noon triumphed in bye-elections on 17 March, winning by a record margin in bye-election history.

Personal life

Noon's family has a long history in politics: his uncle, Rana Taj Ahmed Noon, was elected MNA (Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan) during 1972-77, 1977 and 1988–90; his uncle, Rana Shaukat Hayat Noon, was elected MNA during 1985-88; his uncle, Rana Gul Muhammad Noon, was a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly during 1951-55 and a member of the Provincial Assembly of West Pakistan during 1956-58; his brother Rana Suhail Ahmad Noon served as a member of the Punjab Assembly, and as Parliamentary Secretary/Advisor to the Chief Minister during 1993-96, and his cousin Rana Ejaz Ahmad Noonis two-time MPA (Member of the Provincial Assembly).

Noon was a practising lawyer and he served as Chief Protocol Officer for Pakistan International Airlines during 1985-90. He later served as CEO for Shujabad Textile Mill, Noon Oil, Elegance Industries, Noons Travel, Shahryar Movers and Falcon Group.

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