Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shehbaz Sharif, 70, and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) vice-chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi are in the race for Pakistan's PM chair after the ouster of Imran Khan in a no-confidence vote by the joint Opposition.
The process of electing the new leader of the House began on Sunday after Khan was removed from office through a no-confidence vote, becoming the first premier in the country's history to be sent home after losing the trust of the House.
As Pakistan's National Assembly is set to convene today to elect a prime minister, here are the key things to know about the two front runners:
Shehbaz Sharif
> Shehbaz Sharif is a tough administrator with a penchant for quoting revolutionary poetry.
> He is the younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was dismissed and then jailed on corruption charges in 2017 and is currently in Britain after being released from prison two years later for medical treatment.
> He is a seasoned politician in his own right, however, having served for years as chief minister of Punjab province, the Sharif family's power base, and as the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N).
> The 70-year-old jointly inherited the family's steel business as a young man and was first elected to provincial office in 1988.
> During his stints as chief minister in the years that followed, he presided over a series of big-ticket infrastructure projects, including Pakistan's first Metrobus service. Officials were reportedly kept on their toes by workaholic Sharif's habit of surprise visits to government offices, which he would inspect, clad in a favoured safari suit and hat.
> Critics say he did little to address the province's core issues—including the need for civil service, health and agricultural reforms—and instead focused on vote-grabbing projects, such as distributing laptops to students or offering subsidised taxis to the jobless.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi
> Qureshi, who served as Foreign Minister of the country for two terms from 2008 to 2011 and 2018 to 2022, began his political career in 1985 when he was elected as a member of the Punjab Assembly from his hometown Multan.
> In 1986, Qureshi joined Pakistan Muslim League and associated himself with former prime minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif. He later joined the faction of PML led by Nawaz Sharif.
> Qureshi served as the Minister of Planning & Development in Nawaz Sharif’s cabinet in 1988 and as the Finance Minister of Punjab in 1990. He left PML for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in 1993.
> In 2006, Qureshi was seriously considered to be a Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2008 elections, however, he was handed over the post of Foreign Minister.
> As a Foreign Minister, Qureshi had to deal with significant foreign relation issues like Mumbai Terror Attacks of 2008 and the Raymond Davis fiasco, which became a reason for Qureshi to be dropped from the Cabinet. He joined the PTI in 2011 and has since remained a significant part of the party.
(With inputs from agencies)
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