Today, Monday, April 11, 2022, the Pakistani parliament elected opposition MP Shahbaz Sharif as the new prime minister, after withdrawing confidence from Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif, 70, competed for the position against former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Birth and upbringing
September 23, 1951: Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif was born.
Shahbaz Sharif belongs to a prominent merchant family. He is the son of Mian Muhammad Sharif, and he is the younger brother of former Pakistani Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
Shahbaz Sharif obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Government College in Lahore, after which he joined his family company owned by Ettifaq Group.
He has a distinguished career in politics that spans more than 4 decades.
1985: He began his career in the public service by assuming the position of Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lahore.
his political career
The official website of the Punjab Parliament described him as a dynamic and visionary political leader known for his strong and effective administration.
Shahbaz Sharif started his political life after his older brother Nawaz Sharif.
1988: Shahbaz was elected for the first time to the Parliament of Punjab Province.
This period ended prematurely in 1990 when Parliament was dissolved.
Shahbaz Sharif was elected a member of the Pakistan National Assembly (Pakistan's Parliament) during the period 1990-1993, then a member of the Punjab Assembly in 1993, when he served as the leader of the opposition until 1996.
1997: Shahbaz Sharif became a member of the Punjab Assembly for the third time, and was also elected Prime Minister of the province.
1999: The term of this assembly was interrupted after a military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf to overthrow the federal government led by Nawaz Sharif and the regional government headed by Shahbaz Sharif.
2018: After the elections won by the PTI led by Imran Khan, Shahbaz Sharif led the opposition in the Pakistani parliament, and he is also the current leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz Sharif) party, where he took over the party leadership after his brother Nawaz Sharif.
Military coup and exile in Saudi Arabia
Shahbaz was exiled with all his family members to Saudi Arabia, according to an agreement with the military government.
2004: Shahbaz tried to return to Pakistan, but was deported again to Saudi Arabia within a few hours of arriving at the airport, according to ARY News.
2007: The family returned to Pakistan after the overthrow of Pervez Musharraf's regime.
Prime Minister of Punjab
Shahbaz Sharif is the most person who has reached the position of Prime Minister of Punjab, as he reached this position 3 times, the first in 1997.
- The second was in the first elections after his return from exile in Saudi Arabia, in June 2008, and he remained in office until March 2013.
May 2013: His party came to power in Pakistan through general elections, and in Punjab, he was elected as the Prime Minister of Punjab for the third time.
Friendly relations with the Pakistani army
- Unlike his brother Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif has good relations with the Pakistani army.
According to Al Jazeera English, analysts say that Shahbaz enjoys cordial relations with the Pakistani army, which traditionally controls Pakistan's foreign and defense policy, and which overthrew a number of elected civilian governments, including those of his brother Nawaz Sharif, due to internal differences between him and the army.
- 2018: Before the elections, Shahbaz Sharif worked to mend his relations with the military establishment. In an interview with the British Financial Times, Shahbaz said that his country needed to “move forward” and said, “Where the military leadership should be consulted, We will consult them."
And that after the dispute between the Pakistani generals and his brother Nawaz Sharif.
He added that he would work with the military on key aspects of foreign policy, such as relations with Afghanistan and India.
His relations with China
Similar to his relations with the army, Shahbaz Sharif also enjoys good relations with China, Pakistan's most important ally at the present time, according to the British newspaper, The Economist.
Shahbaz Sharif played an active role in establishing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor within the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.
The two brothers seemed to have a good relationship with the Chinese government, which was evidenced by the slowdown in the initiative during the reign of Imran Khan as many key parts of the projects seemed to be stalled.
Corruption accusations
Accusations of financial and administrative corruption and money laundering have been brought against a number of leaders of the opposition parties to Imran Khan, which opposition members said are accusations based on a political background.
- Shahbaz Sharif was not far from being accused of corruption, like his brother Nawaz Sharif, whose third government fell due to allegations of corruption, and Shahbaz says that the accusations are politically motivated.
According to the Economist, he is currently released on bail in a money laundering investigation.
Following his accusation in two corruption cases, Sharif moved to the British capital, London, which froze the family’s bank accounts, but the British Crime Agency’s investigations failed to find evidence against Shahbaz Sharif, and the case was dropped from him in 2020.
September 2020: Shahbaz Sharif was arrested after his return on corruption charges, but the Lahore High Court released him in April 2021.