When Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan faced pressure to stop before the vote without confidence, opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif, emerged as a candidate who might replace him.
Chairman of the Pakistani People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday said Shehbaz Sharif will soon become Prime Minister as Khan “has now lost the majority” in the National Assembly (NA).
But, who Shehbaz Sharif? Shehbaz, Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has been the opposition leader in NA since August 2018.
He was elected to the Punjab Provincial Assembly in 1988, and to NA in 1990. He was re-elected for the Punjab Assembly in 1993 and named Opposition Leader. He was chosen as the main minister for the first time in 1997.
After the military coup overthrew the national government in 1999, Shehdaz and his family spent years of seclusion in Saudi Arabia and returned to Pakistan in 2007. He was appointed with the CM Punjab for the second term after the provincial PML-N victory in the 2008 general election.
He was elected as CM Punjab for the third time in 2013 and served his tenure until his party’s defeat in the 2018 General Election.
Shehbaz was nominated as PML-n President after his brother Nawaz was disqualified from holding the office.
In December 2019, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) seized 23 of Shehbaz and his son Hamza Sharif, accused them of money laundering. In September 2020, the NAB arrested Shehbaz in Lahore’s High Court and demanded him on charges of money laundering. He was imprisoned by satire. In April last year, Lahore High Cours released him to guarantees in the case of money laundering.
Shehbaz has vowed to improve relations with the US and European Union if he became PM. He said the army had remained neutral ahead of the election of self-confidence, the claims were important considering his brother was overthrown in the 1999 coup, Bloomberg reported
