Ijaz 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.