Islamabad: Since Imran Khan is on his way out, the name of Shahbaz Sharif is being discussed as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Shahbaz, 70, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, is the younger brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. It is being said that preparations have started to give him the PM’s protocol.
Shahbaz Sharif has said a few days ago that the Pakistani army is not taking any side in the ongoing political crisis in Pakistan.
Shahbaz is known as an efficient administrator.
Currently the Leader of the Opposition, he has been the Chief Minister of Punjab Province (Pakistan) thrice. He was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Punjab for the first time in February 1997 and was the CM till October 1999. After this, he was the Chief Minister of Punjab for the second term from June 2008 to March 2013 and then for the third time from 2013 to 2018.
He was elected as PML-N president in March 2018 after elder Sharif was disqualified as the party president following a Supreme Court verdict in the Elections Act 2017 case.
Born in 1951, Shahbaz Sharif’s full name is Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif. His father’s name is Marhoom Mian Muhammad Sharif. His elder brother Nawaz Sharif has also been the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court of Pakistan and he too could not complete his term. His son Hamza Shahbaz Sharif has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan.
Shahbaz Sharif started his career as a businessman after completing his graduation from Lahore Government College and in 1985 he became the President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. During 1987- 88, he plunged into active politics. He has seen many ups and downs in his political career. He was a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly from 1988 to 1990 and a member of the National Assembly from 1990 to 1993.
When Shahbaz becomes the PM, a cleric and current President of the Jamiat Ulema -e-Islam, Maulana Fazl-ur Rehman could replace Arif Alvi as the President of Pakistan. The Chairman’s position could go to former PM and Pakistan People’s Party leader Yusuf Raza Gilani.
Nawaz Sharif, 72, and his daughter Maryam, 48, were arrested in Lahore on July 13, 2018, on their arrival from London after an accountability court found them guilty over his family’s ownership of four luxury flats in London. They were later shifted to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
Both Sharif and Maryam have been sentenced by an accountability court to 10 and 7 years in prison respectively for corruption charges linked to the Panama Papers case. Sharif has also been barred from holding any public office for life.