Shehbaz Sharif, in full Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif,(born September 23, 1951, Lahore, Pakistan), Pakistani businessman, politician, and served as the 23rd prime minister of Pakistan, in office from April 2022 to August 2023. Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif began his political career in the late 1980s when Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, rose to prominence as Chief Minister (1985–90) of Punjab, Pakistan’s largest province. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif later served this country three nonconsecutive terms (1990–93, 1997–98, and 2013–17) as Prime Minister. Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif became three times Chief Minister of Punjab province for the first time on 20 February 1997, second time on 2008, third time on 2013 - 2018. In 2017 he became President of the Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N) party after the Supreme Court disqualified Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif from holding office.
Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif was born in 1951, four years after his Kashmiri Punjabi family had relocated from Amritsar (now in Punjab state, India) to Lahore (now in Punjab province, Pakistan) during the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent. His father, Muhammad Sharif, founded a steel factory outside the city, which in the 1960s became part of an industrial conglomerate known as Ittefaq Group.
Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif attended St. Anthony’s High School before completing his graduation degree at Government College University in the early 1970s. He joined Ittefaq Group shortly after graduating, but Pres. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s nationalization of the company in 1972 left this Sharif family disenfranchised and prompted their political involvement. The company was returned to the this family after military strongman Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq took power in 1977. Mian Muhammad Sharif, who thus gained both business experience and political acumen, was chosen for a one-year term as president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry in 1985.
His elder brother, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, had become finance minister for Punjab province in 1981.
He has two brothers, Mian Muhammad Abbas Sharif and Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
Mian Shehbaz Sharif got married in 1973 with his first wife, Nusrat Shehbaz. They had four children: Salman, Hamza and twin sisters, Javeria and Rabia. ; their eldest son, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, served two terms in the National Assembly (2008–18) before taking leadership of the PML-N in Punjab province in 2018 and serving briefly as the province’s chief minister in 2022. In 2003 Shehbaz Sharif married Tehmina Durrani, who became his second wife, as is legally permitted in Pakistan.
Mian Shehbaz Sharif began his political career after getting elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Constituency PP-122 (Lahore-VII) as a candidate of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (JI) in the 1988 general election. He secured 22,372 votes and defeated a candidate of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). However his term prematurely ended in 1990 when the assemblies were dissolved.
He was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Constituency PP-125 (Lahore-X) as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) in 1993 general election. He received 28,068 votes and defeated a candidate of PPP. In the same election, he was re-elected to the National Assembly from Constituency NA-96 (Lahore-V) as a candidate of PML-N. He secured 55,867 votes and defeated Yousuf Salahuddin. He vacated the National Assembly seat and retained his Provincial Punjab Assembly seat. Shortly after the election, he was elected Leader of Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Punjab. During his tenure as leader of the opposition, he remained in the United Kingdom for some years due for medical treatment. In his absence, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was made acting leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly. His term as Member of the Punjab Assembly and the Leader of the Opposition prematurely ended in November 1996 when the assemblies were dissolved.
Mian Shehbaz Sharif was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Constituency PP-125 (Lahore-X) as a candidate of PML-N in 1997 General Election. He received 25,013 votes and defeated a candidate of PPP. In the same election, he was re-elected to the National Assembly from Constituency NA-96 (Lahore-V) as a candidate of PML-N. He secured 47,614 votes and defeated Hanif Ramay. He was elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab for the first time and was sworn in as 13th Chief Minister of Punjab on 20 February 1997.
During his tenure as Chief Minister of Punjab, he was praised for his good governance in the province because of his focus on health, education, agriculture and industrial sectors. He undertook several development projects in Lahore and launched a crackdown on criminals across the province to maintain law and order in the province.
He held his office until 12 October 1999 when was removed from the post of Chief Minister in the 1999 Pakistani coup d’état. Following the coup he was imprisoned. In December 2000, he along with his immediate family members was exiled forcibly to Saudi Arabia following the request of the Honourable Saudi Royal Family.
Mian Shehbaz Sharif was not allowed to take part in the 2008 general election due to the charges of murder. In 2008, Mian Shehbaz Sharif was acquitted in the 1998 extrajudicial killings case.
Mian Shehbaz was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab unopposed from Constituency PP-48 (Bhakkar-II) as a candidate of PML-N in by-polls held in June 2008.
He was re-elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab unopposed after securing 265 votes.
His second term as Chief Minister lasted until 25 February 2009, when the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared him ineligible to hold public office which took away his seat in the Punjab Assembly, and thereby removed him from office as Chief Minister. On 1 April 2009, a five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court overturned an earlier decision of the apex court, in which Mian Shehbaz was disqualified from holding public office. As a result, Shehbaz returned to office as Chief Minister.
Mian Shehbaz Sharif was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from three Constituencies PP-159 (Lahore-XXIII), PP-161 (Lahore-XXV) and PP-247 (Rajanpur-I) – as a candidate of PML-N in 2013 general election. In the same election, he was also re-elected to the National Assembly from Constituency NA-129 (Lahore-XII) as candidate of PML-N. Mian Shehbaz Sharif opted to retain his Provincial Assembly seat PP-159 (Lahore-XXIII) and was re-elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab for the third time unopposed after securing 300 votes in the 371-members Provincial Assembly.
In 2016, Mian Shehbaz was elected unopposed as the president of Punjab chapter of PML-N in intra-party elections.
On 29 July 2017, Shehbaz was named leader of the PML-N, and hence Prime Minister-designate of Pakistan, following the disqualification of outgoing Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif after the Panama Papers case decision. However, Mian Shehbaz could not be sworn in immediately because he was not a member of the National Assembly. As a result, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was made interim Prime Minister of Pakistan. Reportedly, Shehbaz was offered to become Prime Minister of Pakistan by the establishment several times previously but never accepted.
In December 2017, during a party meeting between the senior members of PML-N, Nawaz named Shehbaz as candidate of the party for the office of Prime Minister in the upcoming June 2018 general election, saying that “Shahbaz had never disappointed him or the party, and had risen to prominence because of his hard work and performance.”
On 27 February 2018, Shehbaz was appointed as the interim President of the PML-N. On 13 March, he was elected as the President of the PML-N unopposed.
He was elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-132 (Lahore-X) in 2018 Pakistani General Election. In the same election, he was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency PP-164 (Lahore-XXI) and PP-165 (Lahore-XXII).
Following his successful election, he abandoned his Punjab seats in favour of the National assembly seat.
On 16 August, he was nominated by PML-N for the office of Prime Minister of Pakistan. On 17 August 2018, he received 96 votes and lost the office to Imran Khan. The same day, he was nominated for the office of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly by 111 members of the National Assembly.
On 20 August 2018, he was notified as Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly. In his capacity as Leader of Opposition, he also served as Chairman Public Accounts Committee from 22 December 2018 till 28 November 2019. He resigned from the post and Rana Tanveer Hussain succeeded him.
On 10 April 2022, Mian Shehbaz Sharif was nominated as candidate for Prime Minister by opposition parties following a vote of no confidence in incumbent Prime Minister Imran Khan after the 2022 Pakistani constitutional crisis.
He was elected Prime Minister on 11 April 2022. He took the oath of office on the same day, administered by the Chairman of the Senate, Sadiq Sanjrani, who was an acting President of Pakistan.
On July 14, 2019, The Daily Mail published a news with the headline: “Did the family of Pakistani politician who has become the poster boy for British overseas aid STEAL funds meant for earthquake victims?” According to the report, Shehbaz Sharif stole aid funds from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) following the 2005 earthquake. It was written by Daily Mail journalist David Rose. Investigations have shown that the UK donated more than £500 to the earthquake victims in Pakistan through the DFID, a UK government organisation.
A DFID representative referred to the reports as “baseless” and “fabricated” on the organization’s website, and in January 2020, Shahbaz Sharif filed a claim for damages against the Daily Mail and its reporter David Rose in the Royal Court of Justice in London.
Daily Mail publishers and Shehbaz’s lawyers signed an agreement of settlement with Tomlin Order in the second week of December 2022 after which Daily Mail removed the defamatory article and apologized to the prime minister and his son-in-law. The ANL has promised it will never repeat these false allegations at any forum and has already worked with Google to remove all articles carrying Daily Mail’s article.
Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif is also a writer of very famour book “Azm O Himmat Kī Dāstān” (عزم و همت كى داستان; “A Tale of Resolve and Courage”), Lāhore.
decided to form, “All India Muslim League’.
presented the idea of a separate homeland
All India Muslim League presented the historic Pakistan Resolution.
appeared on the map of the world
All India Muslim League became “Pakistan Muslim League’.
PML faced very difficult periods during Martial Law regime
Pakistan Muslim League re-emerged as the largest political party of the country
secured the largest share of popular vote.