Shahbaz Sharif steps out of the shadows to lead Pakistan

Gulf Today Report

The brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was dismissed then jailed on corruption charges in 2017, Shahbaz Sharif, and expected to become Pakistan's new prime minister on Monday after leading the opposition alliance that ousted Imran Khan, is a tough administrator with a penchant for quoting revolutionary poetry.

Candidates for Pakistan's next prime minister are due to file nomination papers on Sunday after incumbent Imran Khan lost a no-confidence vote in parliament, bringing an end to the former cricket star's nearly four years in power.

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Khan had clung on for almost a week after a united opposition first tried to remove him, managing to put off the no-confidence vote, which he said was part of a foreign-backed plot against him, and dissolving parliament.

But the Supreme Court ordered parliament to convene and hold the vote and Khan's government fell in the early hours of Sunday after a 13-hour session that included repeated delays and lengthy speeches by lawmakers from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

Imran Khan becomes Pakistan's first prime minister to be ousted through a no-trust vote. Twitter photo

The vote went ahead after the powerful army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, met Khan, said two sources who declined to be identified, as criticism mounted over the delay in the parliamentary process.

The military has ruled the nuclear-armed country of 220 million people for almost half its nearly 75-year history.

Shahbaz Sharif is a seasoned politician in his own right, however, having served for years as chief minister of Punjab province, the Sharif family's power base, and also president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N).

General Qamar Javed Bajwa

During his stints as chief minister in the years that followed, he presided over a series of big-ticket infrastructure projects, including Pakistan's first metro bus service.

Officials were reportedly kept on their toes by workaholic Sharif's habit of surprise visits to government offices, which he would inspect clad in a favoured safari suit and hat.

Still, critics say he did little to address the province's core issues -- including the need for civil service, health and agricultural reforms -- and instead focused on vote-grabbing projects, such as distributing laptops to students or offering subsidised taxis to the jobless.

Freed on bail

Sharif has also been linked to graft and corruption — charges supporters say sprang from a political vendetta by Khan.

In December 2019, the National Accountability Bureau seized nearly two dozen properties belonging to Sharif and his son Hamza, accusing them of money laundering.

Imran Khan's government fell in the early hours of Sunday after a 13-hour session.

He was arrested and detained in September 2020, but released around six months later on bail for a trial which is still pending.

Unlike his elder brother — whose relations with the country's powerful military and his opponents were strained — Sharif is seen as a more flexible dealmaker, capable of compromising even with his enemies.

Pakistan's military is the country's most powerful institution and has ruled the nation for nearly half its history — and pulls the strings even when not actually ruling.

"I have always remained a strong supporter of effective coordination between Islamabad and Rawalpindi," Sharif said, referring to the administrative capital and the nearby military headquarters.

Sharif remains popular despite lurid tabloid headlines about multiple marriages and a property portfolio that includes luxury apartments in London and Dubai.

His current marriage, to author Tehmina Durrani, has largely ended the gossip.

Durrani, a feminist whose book "My Feudal Lord" earned her international acclaim, is also credited with improving Sharif's respect for women.

Tough economic and security challenges await Sharif as he inherits a stagnant economy and escalating violence from Pakistan's Taliban and Balochistan separatists.