Background and career
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who thrice served as the prime minister of Pakistan, from 1990 to 1993, from 1997 to 1999 and later from 2013 to 2017. He is the longest-serving prime minister in the country's history, having served a total of more than 9 years across three tenures, with each term ending in his ousting. He has also served twice as the chief minister of Punjab and has held several ministerial positions at the provincial and federal levels, as well as the leader of the opposition. He remains a prominent figure in Pakistani politics and is a leading member of the Pakistan Muslim League (N). Born into the Sharif family in Lahore, Punjab, Nawaz is the son of businessman Muhammad Sharif, the founder of Ittefaq and Sharif groups. Nawaz studied business at Government College and law at the University of Punjab. Nawaz entered into politics in 1981, when he was appointed by President Zia as the minister of finance for the province of Punjab. Backed by a loose coalition of conservatives, Nawaz was elected as the chief minister of Punjab in 1985 and re-elected after the end of martial law in 1988. Before the 1990 election, Nawaz was appointed as the head of the conservative Islami Jamhuri Ittihad, founded by Lt General Hamid Gul, and became the 12th prime minister of Pakistan with the help of Generals Mirza Aslam Beg, Asad Durrani, and drug barons such as Haji Ayub Afridi. After being ousted in 1993, when President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolved the National Assembly, Nawaz served as the leader of the opposition to the government of Benazir Bhutto from 1993 to 1996. He returned to the premiership after the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) was elected in 1997, and served until his removal in 1999 by military takeover by General Pervez Musharraf. Imprisoned and subject to trial after the coup, Sharif avoided the death penalty as a result of pressure from US president Bill Clinton. He struck a deal with the military establishment, which was brokered by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, and went into exile for a period of ten years. In 2007, he violated the agreement and attempted to return but was deported. After more than a decade, he returned to politics in 2011 and led his party to victory for the third time in 2013. In 2017, Nawaz was again removed from office by the Supreme Court of Pakistan following the Panama Papers case. In 2018, the Pakistani Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz from holding public office, and he was also sentenced to ten years in prison by an accountability court. In 2019, he went to London for medical treatment on bail. He was declared an absconder by a Pakistani court for his failure to return in four weeks; however, the Islamabad High Court later granted him protective bail in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia cases. In 2023, after four years of exile, he returned to Pakistan and was subsequently acquitted in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia Steel Mills cases by the Islamabad High Court. He has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since 29 February 2024. Sharif's victory in NA-130, which is widely regarded as one of Pakistan's most competitive constituencies, has been called into question. An examination of Form 45 conducted by the Pattan Development Organisation and an investigation by Geo TV's Election Cell showed manipulated vote counts, altered turnout statistics, and modified official documents which substantiated claims by the opposition that the election result was tampered with. The evidence suggests the election was rigged in Sharif's favour, undermining the legitimate victory of his opponent Yasmin Rashid. He has been serving as Patron-in-Chief of the Lahore Authority for Heritage Revival since 2025.
Nawaz was born in Lahore, Punjab, on 25 December 1949. The Sharif family are Punjabi-speaking Kashmiris. His father, Muhammad Sharif, was described as a "shrewd" businessman and industrialist whose family had emigrated from Anantnag in Kashmir for business. They settled in the village of Jati Umra in Amritsar district, Punjab, at the beginning of the twentieth century. His mother's family came from Pulwama. After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Nawaz's parents migrated from Amritsar to Lahore. His father followed the teachings of the Ahl-i Hadith. Though the Sharif family are known to have strong Barelvi thoughts. His family owns Ittefaq Group, a multimillion-dollar steel conglomerate, and Sharif Group, a conglomerate with holdings in agriculture, transport and sugar mills. He has two younger brothers: Shehbaz Sharif and the late Abbas Sharif, both of whom are politicians. Nawaz went to Saint Anthony High School. He was admitted into the Government College, Lahore on the basis of his skill in Kushti, a type of wrestling. He graduated with an art and business degree and then received a law degree from the Law College of Punjab University in Lahore. Nawaz attempted to play cricket in 1973 but was dismissed for a duck on the first ball he faced while playing for the Railways team against Pakistan International Airlines. Imran Khan in his book, Pakistan: A Personal History, recalled an incident before a 1987 Cricket World Cup warm-up match against the West Indies at Gaddafi Stadium. "A few moments before the match started, the cricket board secretary told me that the Chief Minister of Punjab, Nawaz Sharif, would be captaining the team that day," he observed. Although he thought he would not play, Imran was shocked to see that Sharif had walked out to do the toss with Viv Richards in full cricket whites and a cricket helmet. Sharif insisted to open the batting. Although Mudassar Nazar was completely ready in protective cricket gear, Sharif was ready to bat with pads, a floppy hat, and "a smile." Imran, concerned for Sharif's safety against the West Indies' formidable pace attack, asked if an ambulance was ready. The match was played on 4 October in 1987. After five bouncers against him, the bowler bowled the sixth ball, which knocked his stumps over as it went through. "The CM was stupefied and most reluctant to leave the ground," Ramiz Raja recalled.
Nawaz faced considerable financial challenges when his family's steel business was affected by the nationalisation policies implemented by former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. This experience prompted him to pursue a career in politics, where he initially focused on the objective of restoring control over the steel plants that were significant to his family. In the late 1970s, he joined Asghar Khan's Tehreek-e-Istiqlal, which was a notable political movement at the time. According to Sharif, he was appointed as Finance Minister of Punjab in General Zia ul-Haq's regime due to the efforts of then Brigadier Abdul Qayyum. By 1976, Nawaz also became a member of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), a conservative party with deep roots in the Punjab province, contributing to the political landscape of the region. In May 1980, Ghulam Jilani Khan, the recently appointed military governor of Punjab and a former Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was seeking new urban leaders; he quickly promoted Nawaz, making him finance minister. In 1981, Nawaz joined the Punjab Advisory Council under Khan. During the 1980s, Nawaz gained influence as a supporter of General Zia-ul-Haq's military government. Zia-ul-Haq agreed to return the steel industry to Nawaz, who convinced the general to denationalise and deregulate industries to improve the economy. Within Punjab, Nawaz privatised government-owned industries and presented development-oriented budgets to the military government. These policies raised financial capital and helped increase the standard of living and purchasing power in the province, which in turn improved law and order and extended Khan's rule. Punjab was the richest province and received more federal funding than the other provinces of Pakistan, contributing to economical inequality. Nawaz invested in Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Arab countries to rebuild his steel empire. According to personal accounts and his time spent with Nawaz, American historian Stephen P. Cohen states in his 2004 book Idea of Pakistan: "Nawaz Sharif never forgave Bhutto after his steel empire was lost [...] even after [Bhutto's] terrible end, Nawaz publicly refused to forgive the soul of Bhutto or the Pakistan Peoples Party."
In 1985, Khan nominated Nawaz as Chief Minister of Punjab, against the wishes of Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo. With the backing of the army, Nawaz secured a landslide victory in the 1985 elections. Because of his popularity, he received the nickname "Lion of the Punjab". Nawaz built ties with the senior army generals who sponsored his government. He maintained an alliance with General Rahimuddin Khan, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Nawaz also had close ties with Lieutenant-General Hamid Gul, the Director-General of ISI. Pakistani politician Bushra Rahman told Herald: "It is the army that parachuted Nawaz Sharif into politics and made him the youngest chief minister of Punjab," adding, "General Ziaul Haq wished for his own years of life [to be] added to Nawaz Sharif's." She further said, "Governor [Lieutenant General] Ghulam Jillani was asked to nurture him as a politician and to prepare him for national politics." She continued, "We stood by Nawaz Sharif and watched him rise to the highest seat of power in the 1990s, propped up against Benazir Bhutto." In 1988, General Zia dismissed the government of Junejo and called for new elections. However, Zia retained Nawaz as the Chief Minister of Punjab, and until his death, continued to support Nawaz.
After General Zia's death in August 1988, his political party – Pakistan Muslim League – split into two factions. Nawaz led the Zia-loyalist Fida Group against the Prime Minister's Junejo's Pakistan Muslim League (J). The Fida Group later took on the mantle of the PML while the Junejo Group became known as the JIP. The two parties along with seven other right-wing conservative and religious parties united with encouragement and funding from the ISI to form the Islami Jamhuri Ittihad (IJI). The IJI received ₨15 million from Zia loyalists in the ISI, with a substantial role played by Nawaz's ally Gul. The alliance was led by Nawaz and Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi and opposed Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the elections. The IJI gained a majority in Punjab, and Nawaz was re-elected as the chief minister. In December 1989, Nawaz decided to remain in the provincial Punjab Assembly rather than hold a seat in the National Assembly. In early 1989, the PPP government attempted to unseat Nawaz through a no-confidence motion in the Punjab Assembly, which they lost by a vote of 152 to 106.
Nawaz Sharif became the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan on 6 November 1990, succeeding Benazir Bhutto, securing a majority in the National Assembly after the general election. His rise to power was the result of an election marred with controversy, with his victory orchestrated with the backing of President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and senior military officials—including Generals Aslam Beg, Hamid Gul, and Asad Durrani, the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence, who worked to buy the loyalties of politicians using funds from the country's foreign exchange reserves. Support also came from powerful drug barons such as Haji Ayub Afridi, Haji Mirza Iqbal Beg, and Sharif's own brother-in-law, Sohail Zia Butt. Sharif continued to maintain his ties with Iqbal Beg, who was arrested and subsequently released on bail as a result of his association with Sharif. In 1996, Asghar Khan filed a lawsuit, known as the Asghar Khan case, challenging the results of the 1990 elections, following the discovery of the Mehran bank scandal. Nearly two decades later in 2012, Generals Aslam Beg, Durrani, and Gul, along with banker Yunus Habib, admitted their involvement in manipulating the election. Later that year, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of petitioner Asghar Khan, agreed that the election was rigged, and ordered legal action against those responsible. As of 2025, no one has been held accountable. Nawaz had campaigned on a conservative platform and vowed to reduce government corruption. He introduced an economy based on privatisation and economic liberalisation to reverse the nationalisation by Zulfikar Bhutto, notably for banks and industries. He legalised foreign money exchange to be transacted through private money exchangers. His privatisation policies were continued by both Benazir Bhutto in the mid-1990s and Shaukat Aziz in the 2000s. He also improved the nation's infrastructure and spurred the growth of digital telecommunication.
