Shehbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad was born on September 23, 1951. is a Pakistani politician and businessman. He is currently serving as the 24th Prime Minister of Pakistan since March 2024, having previously held the position from April 2022 to August 2023. He is also the president of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N). Throughout his political career, he has served as the Chief Minister of Punjab three times, making him the longest-serving Chief Minister of Punjab.
Early Life
Shehbaz Sharif was born on September 23, 1951, into a Punjabi-speaking Kashmiri family in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. His father, Muhammad Sharif, was an upper-middle-class businessman and industrialist. The family originally migrated from Anantnag in Kashmir for business and settled in the village of Jati Umra in Amritsar district, Punjab, in the early 20th century. Shehbaz’s mother’s family came from Pulwama.
After the partition of India and Pakistan’s independence in 1947, Shehbaz’s parents moved from Amritsar to Lahore. Muhammad Sharif established a steel factory outside the city, which later became part of the Ittefaq Group, an industrial conglomerate, in the 1960s. His has two brothers, Abbas Sharif and Nawaz Sharif.
Education
Shehbaz Sharif went to St. Anthony’s High School and later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Government College University in the early 1970s. Following his graduation, he joined the Ittefaq Group, his family’s business. In 1985, he became the president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Wives
First Wife
Shehbaz Sharif has married five wives, two at present. At the age of 23, Shehbaz married Late Begum Nusrat Shahbaz, his first wife in 1973. Begum bore Shabaz four children namely; Salman, Hamza, and twin sisters Javeria and Rabia.
Second Wife
Soon after the passing of his first wife, Begum, Sharif remarried in 1993 to an up-and-coming model named Alia Honey. However, their relationship didn’t ast, and it’s speculated that they divorced during his exile in Saudi Arabia. Tragically, Alia Honey reportedly passed away a few months after their divorce under unclear circumstances.
Third Wife
In the same year after Shahbaz divorced Alia, he married for the third time to Nilofar Khosa. She is the sister of DG Federal Investigation Agency Tariq Khosa and Justice Asif Saeed Khosa. Sharif’s third marriage also ended without success.
Fourth Wife
After experiencing two consecutive failed marriages, Shahbaz Sharif waited for some time before secretly marrying socialite and novelist Tehmeena Durrani in 2003. Durrani is a Pakistani author, activist, socialite, and artist, and she became Shehbaz Sharif’s second acknowledged wife. It is believed that they wedded secretly after an eight-year love affair, without any knowledge from government officials or the Sharif family.
Fifth Wife
In 2012, at the age of 60, Shahbaz Sharif entered his fifth marriage, this time with a woman named Kalsum Haya. Once again, this marriage was kept secret. Reports indicate that they have already divorced, and Kalsum Haya has previously denied any claims suggesting her marriage to Shahbaz Sharif.
Net Worth
Shehbaz Sharif’s net worth is estimated to be about $130 million, making him one of the richest politicians in Pakistan.
Political Career
Shehbaz Sharif embarked on his political journey after being 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 was cut short in 1990 when the assemblies were dissolved.
In the 1990 general election, he was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Constituency PP-124 (Lahore-IX) as a candidate of IJI. He also won a seat in the National Assembly of Pakistan from Constituency NA-96 (Lahore-V) as a candidate of IJI. He vacated his Provincial Punjab Assembly seat to retain his National Assembly seat. His term was again cut short in 1993 when the assemblies were dissolved.
In the 1993 general election, 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). He also reclaimed his National Assembly seat from Constituency NA-96 (Lahore-V) as a candidate of PML-N. He vacated his National Assembly seat and became Leader of Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Punjab. However, during his tenure as opposition leader, he spent time in the United Kingdom for medical treatment, and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi served as acting leader in his absence. His term ended prematurely in November 1996.
In the 1997 general election, he was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Constituency PP-125 (Lahore-X) and to the National Assembly from Constituency NA-96 (Lahore-V) as a candidate of PML-N. He was elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab for the first time on February 20, 1997. However, his tenure was cut short on October 12, 1999, when he was removed from office following the 1999 Pakistani coup d’état and imprisoned. Later, he was exiled to Saudi Arabia.
During his exile, he was elected as the President of PML-N in August 2002. He returned to Pakistan in November 2007. He was acquitted of charges in a 1998 extrajudicial killings case in 2008.
In 2008, he was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab unopposed from Constituency PP-48 (Bhakkar-II) in by-polls and became Chief Minister of Punjab again. He was re-elected as Chief Minister unopposed in 2013 after securing 300 votes in the Provincial Assembly.
In 2022, he was nominated as a candidate for Prime Minister by opposition parties following a vote of no confidence in the incumbent Prime Minister Imran Khan. He was elected Prime Minister on April 11, 2022. His administration faced economic challenges and sought relief deals with the IMF and improved relations with the United States and China.
