Shehbaz Sharif elected as 24th Prime Minister of Pakistan

Pakistan’s 24th Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif

By Nasir Aijaz
The AsiaN Representative

ISLAMABAD: The ‘Hung Parliament’ of Pakistan, which came into being as a result of highly disputed General Elections held on February 8, 2024, elected Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif as the 24^th Prime Minister of the country on Sunday March 3, 2024.

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) President Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, backed by seven other parties, secured 201 votes defeating Omar Ayub Khan, backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), a religious party. Omar Ayub Khan got only 92 votes.

Omar Ayub Khan is the grandson of former Army Chief and Dictator Gen. Ayub Khan, a self-proclaimed Field Marshal, who ruled the country by imposing Martial Law in 1958, and then became the President getting him elected through the local councils, and ruled till 1969.

Mian Shehbaz Sharif too has almost same background, as he and his elder brother former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif emerged in political arena with the support of former Dictator and Army Chief Gen. Ziaul Haq, who had toppled the civilian elected Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in July 1977, imposed martial law, got Bhutto hanged through the court in a case, and ruled the country for eleven years.

On Sunday, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq announced the official results of the polling of the prime minister election and declared Shehbaz Sharif as the 24th Prime Minister and Leader of the House of the 16th National Assembly, the Lower House of the Parliament.

On NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s directions, the doors of the National Assembly Hall were closed and a voting process was conducted. A Baloch leader and elected Member of National Assembly – Akhter Mengal, and JUI-F, a religio-political party member did not take part in the voting process.

PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council members protested in the house chanting slogans against the coalition of eight parties which is all set to form the Central government. PTI alleged that the mandate has been stolen.

The PTI and Sunni Ittehad Council members chanted slogans of ‘Chor’ ‘Chor’ (Thief, Thief) in front of the speaker’s podium, while PML-N representatives rallied behind slogans of ‘Ghari Chor’ (Thief of Wrist Watch), referring to the allegations against PTI-founder and former premier Imran Khan, who is accused of stealing and selling precious wrist watch, one of the many, preserved as state gifts.

Shehbaz Sharif, 72, enjoyed the office of Prime Minister for 18 months when he replaced Imran Khan, ousted through vote of no confidence in the parliament in April 2022. Shehbaz held this office until August 2023 when parliament was dissolved ahead of the elections and a caretaker government took over.

As no single party won an absolute majority in the February 8 elections, the PML-N sought the backing of Pakistan People’s Party and six other smaller parties through political bargaining.

In his previous 18-month term, Shehbaz Sharif’s government was able to negotiate a critical International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal but the process was mired in challenges, and measures required by the agreement – which expires in April – have contributed to rising prices and added pressure on poor and middle-class households.

On Sunday, Shehbaz Sharif, in his address to the parliament, said, “Deep Surgery and revolutionary measures are needed to steer the country out of the economic crisis.” According to him, even the expenditures of parliament were met through the foreign loan.

Shehbaz Sharif’s political career: He was elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab in 1988 and to the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1990. He was again elected to the Punjab Assembly in 1993 and named Leader of the Opposition. He was elected as chief minister of Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, for the first time on 20 February 1997. After the 1999 Pakistan coup d’état by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Shehbaz along with his family spent years of self-exile in Saudi Arabia, returning to Pakistan in 2007.

Shehbaz was appointed Chief Minister for a second term after the PML-N’s victory in Punjab province in the 2008 general election. He was elected as Chief Minister of Punjab for the third time in the 2013 general election and served his term until his party’s defeat in the 2018 general election.

Shehbaz was nominated as the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N after his brother, Nawaz Sharif, was disqualified from holding office in the wake of the Panama Papers case. He was nominated as the Leader of the Opposition after the 2018 election.

In December 2019, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) froze 23 properties belonging to Shehbaz and his son, Hamza Sharif, accusing them of money laundering.

On 28 September 2020, the NAB arrested Shehbaz at Lahore High Court and indicted him on charges of money laundering. He was incarcerated pending trial.

On 14 April 2021, Lahore High Court released him on bail in money laundering reference. On 12 October 2022, Shehbaz and his son were acquitted on all charges of corruption and money laundering by the Special Court Central in Lahore.

Amid the 2022 Pakistani political crises, he was elected by the National Assembly as Prime Minister on 11 April 2022 after the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan.

On 12 August 2023, the parliament was set to expire due to the completion of the five-year tenure. In order to gain more time for elections and other political gains, Sharif and the PDM alliance agreed to dissolve the parliament on 9 August 2023, which was approved by the president of Pakistan.

Shehbaz jointly owns Ittefaq Group, a multimillion-dollar steel conglomerate. In 2013, it was noted that Shehbaz is wealthier than his elder brother Nawaz with US$1.2 million.

Provincial Governments: In Punjab also, the PML-N has formed the government with Ms. Maryam Nawaz as the Chief Minister. Maryam, daughter of former premier Nawaz Sharif and niece of current premier, is the first ever female to hold the office of Chief Minister.

Bhutto’s party Pakistan People’s Party has formed governments in Sindh and Balochistan while the PTI-led coalition has formed government in Khyber Pakhtunkhaw province.