Shehbaz Sharif, returning as Pakistan’s prime minister for a second time on Sunday when his brother declined a fourth time period, has performed a vital position holding collectively a disparate coalition for 16 months after rival Imran Khan was ousted.
Sharif, 72, gained a parliamentary vote for premier, resuming the position he had held till August when parliament was dissolved forward of final month’s elections. Pakistan has had a caretaker authorities since then.
He was named by his occasion and coalition allies to move the South Asian nation, regardless of his elder brother Nawaz Sharif profitable a seat within the meeting and being favourite to be sworn in once more.
Nawaz Sharif didn’t need to run a minority coalition authorities, having had clear majorities in his three earlier stints as prime minister, his daughter Maryam stated in a submit on X.
The brothers’ Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) occasion gained solely 80 of the 264 seats up for contest within the elections however was supported by different events for a majority.
Along with holding the coalition collectively after Khan was voted out in 2022, Shehbaz Sharif helped Pakistan safe a last-gasp Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF) bailout final 12 months.
He regained the highest job because the PML-N buried variations with the highly effective army within the face of their frequent rival, Khan, who was at odds with prime generals over coverage variations.
On the time, Nawaz Sharif was in self-imposed exile in London and disqualified from holding public workplace. He returned to Pakistan in October.
Earlier than his stint as prime minister, the youthful Sharif was recognized extra as an administrator than a politician, having served as chief minister thrice within the nation’s largest province, Punjab.
However as prime minister, he shortly took on the position of peacemaker between coalition events usually at odds with each other over key insurance policies.
Shehbaz Sharif’s greatest achievement in his brief tenure was clinching the IMF bailout with Pakistan getting ready to a debt default. The deal was signed after Sharif personally known as on IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva in June.
Nonetheless, underneath his authorities, inflation touched a excessive of 38% with file depreciation of the rupee foreign money – primarily on account of structural reforms necessitated by the IMF program to stabilize the financial system.
He blames the financial meltdown on Khan’s authorities, which he says broke an settlement with IMF simply earlier than he was ousted. Sharif stated his authorities needed to introduce a slew of reforms and scrap subsidies, inflicting inflation to surge.
Key challenges
Pakistan continues to be enmeshed in financial disaster with inflation remaining excessive, hovering round 30%, and financial development slowing to round 2%. February inflation dipped barely to 23.1% from a 12 months earlier, partly on account of a excessive base impact.
Sharif might want to emulate his feat of securing a short-term IMF bailout with the present program expiring subsequent month and a brand new prolonged deal wanted to maintain Pakistan on a slim path to restoration.
However his foremost position might be to keep up ties with the army, which has straight or not directly dominated Pakistan since independence. Not like his elder brother, who has had a rocky relationship with the army in all his three phrases, the youthful Sharif is taken into account extra acceptable and compliant by the generals, analysts say.
For a number of years, the army has denied it interferes in politics. But it surely has previously straight intervened to topple civilian governments thrice, and no prime minister has completed a full five-year time period since independence in 1947.
Privatizing some lumbering state giants, together with the nationwide airline, and securing international funding may also be key to ease the financial disaster. The Sharis have shut ties with rulers in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which may assist in securing investments in a number of initiatives Pakistan has recently showcased on the market.
Though protection and key international coverage selections are largely influenced by the army, Sharif must juggle relations with the US and China, each main allies. He’s additionally confronted with coping with fraying ties with three of Pakistan’s 4 neighbors, India, Iran and Afghanistan.
‘Workaholic’
Sharif was born within the japanese metropolis of Lahore in a rich Kashmiri-origin household that was within the metal enterprise. He began his political profession because the chief minister of Punjab in 1997 with a signature “can-do” administrative model.
His cupboard members and bureaucrats who’ve labored carefully with him name him a workaholic.
As chief minister, the youthful Sharif deliberate and executed various bold infrastructure mega-projects, together with Pakistan’s first trendy mass transport system in Lahore.
He was caught up within the nationwide political upheaval when his brother was ousted from the premiership by a army coup in 1999 and he went into exile in Saudi Arabia.
Sharif entered the nationwide political scene when he turned the chief of the PML-N after the elder Sharif was discovered responsible in 2017 on expenses of concealing belongings associated to the Panama Papers revelations.
Married twice, Shehbaz Sharif has two sons and two daughters from his first marriage however none from the second. One of many sons is in politics however the others usually are not in public life.
His second spouse is Tehmina Durrani, the well-known creator of “My Feudal Lord,” an autobiography about an abusive married life with an earlier husband.
