Introduction

Senator Walid Iqbal was sworn in as Punjab’s newest Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator on 14th December 2018. He currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence, and is also a member of the Senate Standing Committees on Law and Justice, Parliamentary Affairs, Water Resources, and Rules of Procedure and Privileges.

Walid has dedicated his political career to being a tireless fighter for democracy, fundamental rights, transparency, accountability, the legitimate interests of minorities and backward and depressed classes, and upholding the vision of Pakistan’s founding fathers.

Before entering public service, he has led a successful career as a top class corporate lawyer and co-founder of Lexium – Attorneys at Law, a leading full-service law firm, and as an outstanding instructor/lecturer of law and economics at the Suleman Dawood School of Business, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) (2006–2016), Government College University Lahore (2004–2006), Harvard University in U.S.A. (1997), and the Punjab Group of Colleges at Lahore (1994–1996).

Walid Iqbal is the grandson of poet and politician Allama Muhammad Iqbal, and the son of philosopher and former Senator and Supreme Court Judge Javid Iqbal and former High Court Judge Nasira Iqbal.

Background

In a country where education is a luxury, literacy rates are low, and school drop-out rates are high, Walid, as one of two brothers, is extremely fortunate to belong to family that has gained international renown by wielding the pen. He was born to Dr. Javid Iqbal, then a lawyer, law professor and writer, who was also the son of Pakistan’s poet-laureate Allama Muhammad Iqbal, and Nasira Iqbal, then a housewife, who was also the daughter of Dr. Abdul Waheed, the chairman of Pakistan’s largest publishing house, Ferozsons.

A few years after Walid’s birth, his father was elevated as a Judge of the Lahore High Court, where he served for 15 years, the last four of them as Chief Justice, and thereafter served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan for three years. Five years after his retirement as Judge, Dr. Javid Iqbal was elected and served as a Senator from the Punjab province, and also as Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Culture.

Walid’s mother, Mrs. Nasira Iqbal, alongside bringing up her two sons, earned a degree of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the Punjab University as a private student. She followed it up by earning a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the same institution when her sons were teenagers, and then by earning a subsequent LL.M. from Harvard Law School when her sons were undergraduate students in the United States. Mrs. Nasira Iqbal started her law practice after Dr. Javid Iqbal eventually retired as Judge, and herself served as a Judge of the Lahore High Court at the tail end of her legal career.

Education

Walid started school at Aitchison College Lahore in 1973, the same year in which the people of Pakistan, through their representatives in the National Assembly, adopted, enacted and gave to themselves the country’s existing Constitution. It was there that he passed his O-Levels in 1982 and A-Levels in 1984.

In 1985, Walid went for his higher studies to the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, in U.S.A., and graduated cum laude in 1988, earning a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a dual major in Finance and Marketing.
He then studied and Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1989 and 1990, earning a Master of Philosophy in International Relations after successfully defending a postgraduate thesis titled “The World Bank’s Changing Relationship with Pakistan 1950–1990”.

Between 1990 and 1994, Walid worked as a business executive in Pakistan’s private sector, while attending evening classes in law, and earned his LL.B. from the Punjab University in 1994, securing first position in the entire province in the first part of the law examination. He started his law practice immediately upon qualifying in 1994, and became an Advocate of the High Courts of Pakistan in 1996.

Walid then went for his higher studies to U.S.A. a second time, earning an LL.M. from Harvard Law School in 1997, and enrolling as an Attorney in the State of New York after clearing the Bar Examination in 1998.

Legal and Political Career

This was followed by a sterling international career in law, spanning about seven years, working as an Associate Attorney at two of the world’s leading law firms, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP of New York (1997–2001), and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer of London (2001–2004). Walid also entered the Roll of Solicitors of England and Wales in 2004, but is currently maintaining non-practicing status.

Walid returned to Pakistan to re-start his law practice and teaching in 2004, and started his political career by joining the PTI in 2011.

As a lawyer, Walid specializes in company law, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, privatizations, corporate and project finance, financial institutions, investment management, joint ventures, energy and petroleum (both upstream and downstream business), asset finance, IT, telecommunications and software development (particularly the associated licensing arrangements), and corporate restructurings.

In the PTI cadres, Walid has served as President Lahore District, Member Central Executive Committee, Member Constitutional Reform Committee and Member Political Strategy Committee, and is currently listed among the official spokespersons of PTI and the Government of Pakistan. Walid also contested for the National Assembly on the PTI ticket from N.A. 124 (Lahore VII) in the General Election of 2013, and finished as runner-up.

On the political and intellectual fronts, Walid regularly participates in international conferences, public talks, lectures, debates, and television talk shows. He has several published papers to his credit on a variety of legal and non-legal topics, including Pakistan’s nuclear tests and the sanctions regime applicable thereto, Pakistan’s constitutional system, alternate dispute resolution, Islamic law and constitutional structure, Pakistan-Russia relations, and the life and teachings of Allama Iqbal.

Throughout his time in the Senate, Walid has taken the floor to passionately address a variety of matters, including the plight of under-trial and convicted prisoners who are suffering from mental illnesses, recognition of Pakistan’s literary and cultural icons, civil-military cooperation in fighting COVID-19 and terrorism, public health priorities, and upholding respect, stature and dignity of Pakistan’s founding fathers. He has also worked on the successful passage of legislation involving the armed forces and FATF requirements through the Senate and its Committees.

Personal

Walid has been married since 2002 and has three school-going children. While his permanent residence is in Lahore, he currently divides time between Lahore and Islamabad due to his political engagements.