Who is Shehbaz Sharif, the front-runner for Pakistan's new PM after Imran Khan's removal

Shehbaz Sharif is the president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the current leader of opposition in the National Assembly.

(Photo credit: Reuters)

New Delhi: Shehbaz Sharif, who is the front-runner for prime ministership in Pakistan after Imran Khan’s removal, is a senior Pakistani politician. He is the president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)

Sharif, who served as the opposition of leader in the Pakistan National Assembly from 2020-22, is the younger brother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. He is likely to become the prime minister on Monday in the assembly sitting.

Born in an industrial family in Lahore, Shehbaz Sharif is a graduate of the Government College University. He initially joined his family`s steel business and became the president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries in 1985.

Political Career

Shehbaz Sharif’s political career began in the 1980s under the dictatorship of Zia-ul-Haq when elder brother Nawaz Sharif was inducted into the Punjab Provincial Cabinet as Finance Minister.

Sharif, who by then began taking an active interest in politics, entered the Punjab Provincial Assembly in 1988. He was elected to the National Assembly in 1990.

In 1993, he again stood for a Provincial Assembly seat and became leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly.

He became the Chief Minister of Punjab for the first time after the 1997 elections.

However, his term was cut short by Pervez Musharraf`s military coup of 1999 after which he became the CM of the Punjab province again in 2008, returning from almost a decade long political exile.

Shehbaz Sharif was elected unopposed as the President of PML-N in February 2018 following his elder brother, and then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s disqualification from holding key positions after being implicated in the `Panama Papers`

Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab

Shehbaz Sharif has also been the Chief Minister of the crucial Punjab province of Pakistan for three terms.

Having made a reputation as an administrator, Shehbaz Sharif had staked claims for the Prime Minister`s chair in August 2018 but lost majority after Bilawal Bhutto-led PPP abstained from the PM vote in the last hour.

Sharif had then settled as the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.

Corruption charges against Shehbaz Sharif

Like his elder brother, Shehbaz Sharif also faces serious corruption charges.

In December 2019, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) froze 23 properties belonging to Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Hamza, accusing them of money laundering. He was arrested by the NAB in the same case in September 2020 and incarcerated pending trial.