Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who has served as the prime minister of Pakistan since 2024. He is the only person to have held the office for two consecutive terms, having previously served as prime minister between 2022 and 2023.

Sharif has also served as the chief minister of Punjab three times, spanning over 12 years, making him the longest-serving person in that role. He has been the leader of the opposition and the president of the Pakistan Muslim League (N).

Political Career

Sharif was elected to the Punjab Assembly in 1988 and later to the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1990. He was re-elected to the Punjab Assembly in 1993 and appointed leader of the opposition. He was elected as chief minister of Punjab for the first time on 20 February 1997. After the 1999 Pakistani coup d’état, Sharif and his brother were arrested and exiled to Saudi Arabia in 2000, returning to Pakistan in 2007. He was elected chief minister for a second term after the PML(N)’s victory in Punjab in the 2008 general election.

Family

Shehbaz Sharif is a member of the Sharif family, a Pakistani political family of Punjabi Kashmiri background that has played a prominent role in Pakistani politics, especially in Punjab, since the 1980s. The family has held the leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League – N (PML–N) for most of the party’s existence since 1993. His father, Muhammad Sharif, was a businessman who founded the Ittefaq Group and Sharif Group in 1939. His son, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, served as the 17th chief minister of Punjab from April to July 2022.

Government

The Second Shehbaz Sharif government is the incumbent federal cabinet and Government led by Shehbaz Sharif after he was sworn into office on 11 March 2024 following the 2024 Pakistani general election.