Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, also known as Shahbaz Sharif is a well known Pakistani politician and currently President of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N). He is the brother of Nawaz Sharif, former Prime Minister of Pakistan. He is the incumbent Chief Minister of Pakistan's most populous province Punjab since 2008. Previously, he held this position from 1997 to 1999, when his government was overturned along with all other provincial and federal governments by dictator Pervaiz Musharraf then army chief of Pakistan, in a pre-planned coup.
History and Background
He was considered a very strict administrator and good chief minister of Punjab but he also get criticism that he was a powerful chief minister of Punjab because his brother was Prime Minister of Pakistan.
He has credit of renewing Lahore and lot of development work in Punjab. Despite all controversies, Shahbaz Sharif is remembered as the best cheif minister any province in Pakistan ever had.
Family
Mian Shahbaz Sharif is the second son of a Kashmiri, named Mian Muhammad Sharif. Shahbaz Sharif's first marriage was with his cousin Nusrat Shahbaz in 1973, with the approval of his father, the late Mian Muhammad Sharif. They have two sons, Hamza and Salman and three daughters. Hamza Shahbaz is in politics and is a member of the National Assembly. Salman Shahbaz, educated at Oxford, concentrates mainly on business. Shahbaz Sharif's second marriage was with Aaliya Honey in 1993-94. They have one daughter, Khadija. He divorced her while in exile in Saudi Arabia. It is claimed that Shahbaz Sharif has a third marriage with Tehmina Durrani but he never publicly admitted it. This is the third marriage for both of them.
First term Chief Minister of Punjab
He was considered a strict and demanding administrator as the chief minister of Punjab. He received some criticism because he took charge of the office when his brother was the Prime Minister of Pakistan [citation needed] He was ousted along with his brother in the 1999 military coup, which brought Pervez Musharraf to power. He had been a famous chief minster due to his strict administration, workaholic nature and public welfare projects all over the Punjab province. He is known as Khadama Punjab these days.
Exile
Shahbaz Sharif lived in exile in London with his brother, the exiled former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif after coming from Saudi Arabia. He once tried coming back to Pakistan following a High Court decision that he was free to come back whenever he wanted. On May 11, 2004 his plane landed at Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore but he was arrested and again deported to Saudi Arabia within a few hours.
President of Pakistan Muslim League (N)
Mian Shahbaz Sharif was elected President of PML (N) on 3 August 2002 while in exile in Saudi Arabia. He was re-elected President of PML(N) for a second term on 2 August 2006.
Popular among educated, civil & armed services and the middle-class, he is thought of as a strong future candidate to become Prime Minister, of Pakistan.
Return to Pakistan
In August 2007, Supreme Court of Pakistan gave its verdict which allowed Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif to return back to Pakistan.
On September 7, 2007, judge Shabbir Hussain Chatha ordered police to arrest Shahbaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz Sharif and produce him before the court, after the hearing in Lahore. The court ruled that "Shahbaz Sharif should be arrested (at) whichever airport he lands at." Nawaz Sharif too faces detention on the pair's planned return from exile to Pakistan on September 10, 2007, to challenge President Pervez Musharraf's 8-year military rule.
His brother Mian Shahbaz Sharif changed return plans at the last minute.
Sharif was not allowed to participate in the 2008 elections because of allegations against him. His son Hamza Sharif was supposed to run from a NA seat in Lahore but due to the death of a candidate the elections were postponed.
Second term as Chief Minister
On 8 June 2008, Shahbaz Sharif was elected as Chief Minister of Punjab, receiving 265 votes from the members of the 371-seat provincial assembly. He was the only candidate, and the Pakistan Muslim League-Q boycotted the vote. Speaking after his election, he called on Musharraf to resign. He won a vote of confidence on 9 June, receiving 266 votes.
Mian Shahbaz Sharif after becoming Chief Minister of Punjab was welcomed by the public and media who were keen to see how he pursues his unfinished agenda of public welfare and reforms in education sector.
His second term as Chief Minister lasted until 25 February 2009, when a three-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, headed by Justice Moosa K. Leghari, declared him ineligible to contest elections, took away his seat in the Punjab Assembly, and thereby removed him from office. On 31 March 2009, a five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court granted stay order on an earlier decision of the apex court, in which Mian Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif were disqualified from holding public office. As a result, Shahbaz Sharif returned to office as Chief Minister. He is fighting against corruption in the society in general and government functionaries in particular. He seems to have vision; a mega plan to transform Lahore into a true High-Tech City in Pakistan as well as an important high tech center in the entire world.
