Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of Nawaz, has been the leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly since 2018. He’s the man behind the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan
Shehbaz Sharif, a businessman by profession, began his political career after getting elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab in the 1988 general election. AP
Pakistan is staring at another government change after Imran Khan ‘lost’ the support of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM-P), a key coalition partner of the government on Wednesday.
It appears that Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan will lose the no-confidence vote that was pushed by Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif in the National Assembly of Pakistan. For those who don’t know, under Pakistan’s Constitution, a party, or a leader is elected by a majority of the lower house, or national assembly, including of 342 members. Out of this, 172 votes are needed as a majority to be elected. Similarly, 172 votes in a no-confidence vote can oust the prime minister and dissolve the cabinet.
Also read: Imran Khan isn’t alone: When Pakistan prime ministers faced a no-confidence vote
On paper, Khan’s ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and coalition partners have 176 seats in the 342-member Assembly, but on Wednesday the MQM-P said its seven lawmakers would vote with the Opposition, which has a combined 163 seats. Additionally, more than a dozen PTI lawmakers have also indicated they will cross the floor.
On the back of these developments, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Shehbaz Sharif will soon become the prime minister of Pakistan.
We take a look at who he is and his political career so far.
Life and times of Shehbaz Sharif
Shehbaz Sharif is the younger brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. A businessman by profession, he began his political career after getting elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab in the 1988 general election.
In 1990, he was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan. However, his term in the Assembly ended prematurely when it was dissolved in 1993.
In 1997, he became the chief minister of the politically important province of Punjab. A military coup in 1999 deposed the government, forcing Shehbaz and his family to spend years in self-exile in Saudi Arabia. He returned to Pakistan only in 2007.
He was appointed the chief minister of Punjab for a second term after the PML-N’s victory in the province in the 2008 general elections. He was also nominated as the PML-N president after his brother Nawaz Sharif was disqualified from holding office. In 2013, he was once again elected as chief minister of Punjab, making him the longest-serving CM of the province. He served his term until the party’s defeat in the 2018 polls.
In 2018, after losing the elections to Imran Khan, he was nominated for the office of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly by one 111 Members of the National Assembly and has been serving in the post since then.
Sharif’s controversies
The younger Sharif has not escaped corruption allegations or controversy that have dogged his elder brother.
In 2003, while still in exile, Shehbaz was charged with ordering the police in 1998 to kill five religious students suspected to be involved in terrorist acts. He refuted the allegations and said they were politically motivated.
The Sharif brothers returned to Pakistan in 2007, but Shehbaz was barred from running in elections a year later as the murder charges lingered. He was acquitted in 2008.
Controversy once again caught up with Shehbaz in December 2019 when National Accountability Bureau (NAB) seized 23 of his properties, accusing him and his son, Hamza Sharif, of money laundering. He was arrested on charges that he had accumulated assets worth Rs 7,328 million in connivance with his co-accused family members.
In April last year, the Lahore High Court released him on bail in the money-laundering case.
Shehbaz as an administrator
Shehbaz has been called an efficient administrator, and a Bloomberg report had once stated that he slept only four hours each night, while dedicating the rest of his time to work.
The report added that the younger Sharif also had the ability bulldoze through Pakistan’s ponderous bureaucracy and complete infrastructure projects in record time.
As Punjab chief minister, he was known for his love for infrastructure development and heavily invested in the construction of transportation systems, which included mega projects like inter-city rapid transport systems, highways, and rural road development. Under his rule, the Orange Line, the first of the Lahore Metro was initiated but is yet to be completed.
He also paid special emphasis on education in the province. Alif Ailaan, a non-profit, reported that under his rule, Punjab’s education system had outperformed all other provinces.
Moreover, during Sharif’s second term, particular attention was given to the grievances of women of the province, including setting up the Punjab Commission on Status of Women (PCSW).
Political future
Another thing that bodes in Shehbaz’s favour is that he is seen to have a less prickly relationship with the military than his brother.
Shehbaz also has good foreign ties, he has accompanied the elder Sharif on foreign trips, particularly to China. He also shares a good relationship Turkish president Recep Ergdogan.
With inputs from agencies
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