Frontrunner for next PM of Pakistan: Who is Shehbaz Sharif?

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, is all set to become the next Prime Minister after Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was voted out in a no-confidence motion.

Shehbaz Sharif's candidature as the Opposition's choice for the Prime Ministership was revealed by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari during a joint press conference of the opposition parties on March 30.

WHO IS SHEHBAZ SHARIF?

Shehbaz Sharif, born in an industrialist family in Lahore in 1950, is the younger brother of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Shehbaz has been the Chief Minister of the crucial Punjab province of Pakistan for three terms, according to the Hindustan Times.

A graduate of Government College University in Lahore, Shehbaz Sharif began his career in his family's steel business before becoming president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries in 1985, the report said.

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I am candidate for Pakistan’s next PM: Shahbaz Sharif

Shehbaz Sharif was elected to the Punjab Provincial Assembly in 1988 and to the National Assembly in 1990. In 1993, he ran for a Provincial Assembly seat again and was elected Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, it said.

He became 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.

Like his elder brother, Shehbaz Sharif also faces 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, the Hindustan Times reports.

He was arrested by the NAB in the same case in September 2020 and incarcerated pending trial. In April 2021, the Lahore High Court released him on bail in the money laundering case.