Haq was born on 20 May 1952 to General Zia-ul-Haq, who was born in Jalandhar, and Begum Shafiq Zia, who was born in Uganda. He received his master's degree in business administration from Southern Illinois University, United States. He worked as a banker prior to entering politics in 1990 in Bahrain where he was vice president at Citibank.
Political career
Upon the death of his father in a plane crash in 1988, Haq returned to Pakistan and entered politics. Haq was elected as the member of the NationalAssembly of Pakistanfor the first time in 1990 Pakistani general election from NA-54 Rawalpindi constituency defeating the PPP candidate from two constituencies; NA-39 and NA-72 on Islami Jamhoori Ittehad ticket. The elections were declared manipulated and rigged by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2012. Haq was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the second time in 1993 Pakistani general election from NA-54 Rawalpindi constituency defeating the PPP candidate. In 1994, he was imprisoned with other leaders in Adiala Jail. Haq was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the third time in 1997 Pakistani general election from NA-54 Rawalpindi constituency defeating the PPP candidate. Following the election, he was appointed as the federal minister for Labour, Manpower and overseas Pakistanis where he served from 1997 to 1999 during Nawaz Sharif second ministry until Sharif government was overthrown soon afterward in a 1999 Pakistani coup d'état by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999. Following differences with Nawaz Sharif, Haq created his own party PML-Z in 2002. He was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the fourth time in 2002 Pakistani general election from Bahawalnagar constituency. He allied with PML-Q and was appointed as the Federal Minister for religious affairs and Federal Minister for Minorities in Musharraf government. He ran in the 2008 Pakistani general election from only one constituency Bahawalnagar instead of two but lost the election for the first time Following the defeat in the elections, he resigned from the PML-Q in 2010. to a PPP candidate. He was elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Bahawalnagar constituency in by-elections held in 2010. In 2012, it was reported that he may join PML-N and get PML-N ticket to run in upcoming general elections from constituency Bahawalnagar NA-191. In 2013, he allied with PML-N. Haq ran for the seat of the National Assembly from two Bahawalnagar constituencies in 2013 Pakistani general election however lost from NA-190 and won NA-191. He was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the fifth time from constituency NA-191 defeating a candidate of PPP
