Meet Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif, military's new favourite to run crisis-ridden nation

Pakistan's capital Islamabad has re-entered the times of a Sharif in power. For the second time in about two years, Shehbaz Sharif won the maximum number of votes in the National Assembly by lawmakers elected through disputed elections. On Sunday (March 3), the former Punjab chief minister and the younger brother of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif won 202 votes of support against 92 polled in support of Umar Ayub Khan, the grandson of military ruler Ayub Khan.

The Sharifs first rose to power due to political patronage by the military dictator Zia ul-Haq in the 1980s, who attempted to clothe his authoritarian regime in democracy's fatigues, and Nawaz Sharif emerged as his 'blue-eyed' boy of choice to beat wildly popular Benazir Bhutto.

This time around, to win Pakistan's top job for the second time around, Shehbaz Sharif's party buried differences with the powerful military in the face of their common rival, jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, who was at odds with top generals over key policy differences.

What made Shehbaz Sharif military's preferred choice to be Pakistan PM?

At 72, Shehbaz has been elected prime minister despite his elder brother Nawaz Sharif winning a seat in the National Assembly and being favourite to be sworn in again.

A common feature that makes him a military favourite is his allegiance to support separatism in India'sJammu and Kashmir. This puts him in the league of his Pakistan Peoples' Party allies whose leaders in the past have called for a 'thousand-year war' over Kashmir despite severe losses in all wars foughtover the Indian Union territory since 1947.

When Imran Khan was ousted from power in April 2022 following a no-trust vote, Shehbaz succeeded as the country's premier. He managed to secure a desperately needed International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout and kept the nation barely afloat almost until August 2023 when he gave up the premiership to caretaker PM Anwar-ul Haq Kakar.

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At the time, Nawaz Sharif was in self-imposed exile in London and disqualified from holding public office over the Panama Papers scandal. He returned to Pakistan in October to lead the election campaign ahead of the February 8 polls.

Before his inaugural stint as prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif was known more as an administrator than a politician. He has served as CM thrice in the country's largest province, Punjab.

As prime minister, Shehbaz emerged as a peacemaker between coalition parties who have often been at odds with one another over key policies.

(With inputs from agencies)