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Pakistan’s former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif only returned from self-imposed exile last year but is now the clear front-runner to win the 8 February election:
Few could have predicted his return to the top, despite his dominance in Pakistani politics for much of these past three decades.
His last term ended in him being convicted of corruption, and the time before that, he was toppled in a military coup.
Still, he appears on the brink of making another successful comeback, a dramatic turnaround for someone who had long been viewed as an opponent to Pakistan’s powerful military.
Mr Sharif’s arch-rival and former prime minister Imran Khan – previously backed by the military – is now the one locked up in jail, his popular party restricted across the country.
What’s his story?
One might say that Mr Sharif is the king of comebacks. He’s certainly done it before.
Ousted from his second term in a 1999 military coup, he returned in the 2013 parliamentary elections, staging a triumphant comeback to become prime minister for a record third term.
That was a historic moment for the country, as it was the first transition from one democratically elected government to another since independence in 1947.
But Nawaz Sharif’s last period in office was marred by upheavals – starting with a six-month opposition blockade of the capital Islamabad, and ending with court proceedings over corruption allegations which eventually led to the Supreme Court disqualifying him in July 2017. He resigned shortly afterwards.
In July 2018 he was found guilty of corruption by a court in Pakistan and given a 10-year sentence. But he was released two months later when the court suspended the sentences, pending a final judgement.
By December 2018 however, he was jailed for corruption again, this time for seven years, in relation to his family’s ownership of steel mills in Saudi Arabia.
Even in absentia though, he has been one of the country’s leading politicians for the past 35 years.
Early years
Nawaz Sharif was born into the family of a prominent Lahore industrialist in 1949 and made his mark in politics representing an urban constituency.
A protégé of military leader Gen Zia ul-Haq – who ruled Pakistan from 1977 to 1988 – Mr Sharif is perhaps best known outside Pakistan for ordering the country’s first nuclear tests in 1998.
He first came to national prominence during the early days of Gen Zia’s martial law, serving as Punjab province’s finance and then chief minister from 1985-1990.
Observers recall him as not being a particularly impressive political figure, but said he nonetheless proved himself an adept administrator. He became prime minister in 1990, but was dismissed in 1993, clearing the way for the then opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, to form a government.
Military coup
After becoming prime minister again in 1997 with a comfortable majority, Mr Sharif appeared to dominate the political landscape and exerted a powerful hold over all the country’s major institutions – apart from the army.
Then, frustrated by opposition in parliament, he tried to pass a constitutional amendment that would have enabled him to enforce Sharia law. He also confronted other power centres – a mob of his supporters ransacked the Supreme Court and he tried to rein in Pakistan’s powerful military.
But Mr Sharif’s overthrowing in 1999 by then army chief Pervez Musharraf showed how dangerous it was for any politician to attempt to curtail the military’s influence in Pakistan.
Mr Sharif was arrested, jailed and eventually sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of hijacking and terrorism. He was also convicted of corruption and banned for life from political activities.
But an alleged deal, brokered by the Saudis, saved him and other family members from being put behind bars. Mr Sharif and 40 members of his family were exiled to Saudi Arabia for what was supposed to be a period of 10 years.
Owen Bennett-Jones, BBC Islamabad correspondent at the time, recalls that when Mr Sharif was removed from power, many Pakistanis expressed great relief, describing him as corrupt, incompetent and power-hungry.
Corruption allegations
Mr Sharif’s first time in the political wilderness lasted until his triumphal return to Pakistan in 2007 following a deal with the military.
Back in Pakistan, he patiently bided his time in opposition. His PML-N party won about a quarter of parliamentary seats in the 2008 elections.
Though tipped to win the 2013 elections he surprised many with the scale of his victory. He saw off a spirited challenge from the party of former cricketer Imran Khan, who became prime minister after him, in politically crucial Punjab province.
But after assuming power in 2013, Mr Sharif faced a six-month blockade of Islamabad by Imran Khan’s PTI party which accused him of rigging the elections.
There were public accusations that the blockade had been launched at the instigation of some officials in the military’s notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
Analysts believe the military establishment wanted to put Mr Sharif under pressure to prevent him from expanding trading ties with India – a process begun under the previous government.
He had promised in his third term to turn Pakistan into an “Asian tiger”, with new infrastructure and a government with “zero tolerance for corruption”.
But problems multiplied and the only economic highlight – the Chinese-funded $56bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor- has been mired in the country’s fragile economy with only some projects delivered so far.
In 2016, the Panama Papers leaks unleashed a new threat for the prime minister which resulted in claims of corruption being investigated by the Supreme Court.
The allegations related to his family’s ownership of apartments in an upmarket area of central London, with questions being raised over the money trail that led to the acquisition of those properties.
Nawaz Sharif denied all wrongdoing and called the charges politically motivated.
However, on 6 July 2018 a court in Pakistan found him guilty of corruption and sentenced him – in absentia – to 10 years in prison. When the sentence was announced he was in London where his terminally-ill wife was receiving medical treatment.
Mr Sharif’s daughter and son-in-law were also convicted.
Opportunity strikes
The former leader chose to stay in in London as his rival Imran Khan ruled the country.
But Khan’s term in power was also turbulent and his relationship with the military deteriorated.
In 2022, Khan was ousted in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence paving the way for Mr Sharif’s party, led by his younger brother Shehbaz, to take charge.
Mr Sharif has been tilting to get back into power even since Imran Khan’s fall, stepping up political engagements.
He made a triumphant return in October 2023, and in the months since all legal cases that were still outstanding against him have melted away, after he was apparently welcomed back by the same military establishment which toppled him in a coup.
Article Link: https://www.bbc.com/
