Who is Shehbaz Sharif? The man poised to become next Prime Minister of Pakistan

As Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan faces pressure to quit ahead of the no-confidence vote, leader of the opposition Shehbaz Sharif, the longest-serving Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province, is poised to become the next Prime Minister of Pakistan.

The deck was cleared by the Pakistan Supreme Court on Thursday set aside Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri’s ruling which rejected the no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan government. The apex court gave directions for holding the sitting of the National Assembly “not later than 10:30 am on April 9” for the no-trust vote.

The Supreme Court also said that if Imran Khan is removed as a result of the no-confidence motion, the new leader of the House should be elected in the same session.

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 (NA) of Pakistan.

But, who is Shehbaz Sharif? Brother of former PM Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz has been the leader of the opposition in the NA since August 2018.

He was elected to the Punjab provincial assembly in 1988, and to the NA in 1990. He was again elected to the Punjab assembly in 1993 and named leader of the opposition. He was elected as chief minister for the first time in 1997.

After a military coup deposed the national government in 1999, Shehbaz along with his family spent years of self-exile in Saudi Arabia and returned to Pakistan in 2007. He was appointed the CM of Punjab for a second term after the PML-N’s victory in the province in the 2008 general elections.

He was elected as the CM of Punjab for the third time in 2013 and served his term until his party’s defeat in the 2018 general elections.

Shehbaz was nominated as the PML-N president after his brother Nawaz was disqualified from holding office.

Meanwhile, 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.

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

Shehbaz has vowed to improve ties with the US and European Union if he becomes PM. He has said the army has been staying neutral ahead of the confidence vote, a notable claim given his older brother was ousted in a 1999 coup, Bloomberg reported. 

• Pakistan
• Shehbaz Sharif
• longest-serving Chief Minister
• next Prime Minister
• poised
• Punjab province