Nawaz Sharif Biography

Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (1949- ), Pakistani politician and industrialist, prime minister (1990-1993, 1997-1999) and leader of the opposition to the government of Benazir Bhutto.

Nawaz Sharif was born in Lahore in 1949 and studied law at the university there. He was employed with his family’s Ittefaq Group, which was run mostly by his younger brother. His political career began in his home province of Punjab, where he became finance minister in the provincial government in 1981. In 1985 Sharif was elected to the National Assembly and also became chief minister of Punjab. He was elected again in 1988, when he led the Islamic Democratic Alliance (a coalition of Islamic parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League) in the first elections held after the death of military dictator General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq. In 1990 the first government of Benazir Bhutto, who had served as prime minister since 1988, was dismissed. The Islamic Democratic Alliance won the 1990 elections that followed, and Nawaz Sharif became prime minister. His administration was marked by a commitment to economic reform and steps toward privatization of Pakistan’s extensive state industrial and financial sector—processes not without controversy. Sharif’s government became increasingly mired in a clash with the president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who had retained wide powers under the constitution drawn up by General Zia.

In early 1993 Sharif was appointed the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League. This led to a period of bitter political wrangling that culminated in both Sharif and the president stepping down in July. The Muslim League failed to win a majority of legislative seats in the elections held in October, but Sharif remained leader of the Muslim League. In 1997 the Muslim League won February elections, and Sharif again became prime minister. He promptly introduced new legislation to curb the powers of the president.

In May 1999 Kashmīri separatists seized Indian-controlled territory in the disputed region of Kashmīr. Sharif incurred the ire of the Pakistani army by blaming the attack on his army chief, Pervez Musharraf. In October 1999 Sharif fired Musharraf and attempted to keep him from returning to Pakistan from abroad by refusing to let his airplane land. Army forces loyal to Musharraf overthrew the government, and Musharraf declared himself the chief executive of Pakistan. Sharif was arrested and tried for a number of charges related to his order to keep Musharraf's airplane from landing. In April 2000 Sharif was convicted of kidnapping, hijacking, and abuse of power and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The military government of Musharraf commuted Sharif's sentence in December, however, and he was allowed to live in exile in Saudi Arabia.

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Nawaz Sharif