Who is Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan's new prime minister

NEW DELHI: Pakistan's National Assembly unanimously elected

Shehbaz Sharif

, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, as the new prime minister of the country, two days after Imran Khan's government lost the no-confidence motion.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif was the frontrunner for the PM's post and the leader of the rainbow coalition of opposition parties which removed Imran Khan from office.

Shehbaz was the only candidate left in the race after former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party will boycott the voting and staged a walkout.

Here are 10 things to know about Shehbaz Sharif:
*Shehbaz Sharif, 70, is the younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

*He served as the chief minister of Pakistan Punjab thrice (1997, 2008 and 2013), making him the longest-serving CM of Pakistan Punjab.

*Shehbaz, part of the wealthy Sharif dynasty, is best known for his direct, "can-do" administrative style, which was on display when, as chief minister of Punjab province, he worked closely with China on Beijing-funded projects.

*He was born in Lahore into a wealthy industrial family and was educated locally. After that he entered the family business and jointly owns a Pakistani steel company.

*He entered politics in Punjab, becoming its chief minister for the first time in 1997 before he was caught up in national political upheaval and imprisoned following a military coup. He was then sent into exile in Saudi Arabia in 2000.

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*Shehbaz returned from exile in 2007 to resume his political career, again in Punjab.

*He entered the national political scene when he became the chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party after Nawaz was found guilty in 2017 on charges of concealing assets related to the Panama Papers revelations.

*In December 2019, the National Accountability Bureau froze 23 properties belonging to Shehbaz and his son, Hamza Sharif, accusing them of money laundering.

*On September 28, 2020, NAB arrested Shehbaz at Lahore high court and indicted him on charges of money laundering. He was incarcerated pending trial. On April 14, 2021, Lahore high court released him on bail in money laundering reference.

*Analysts say Shehbaz, unlike Nawaz, enjoys amicable relations with Pakistan's military, which traditionally controls foreign and defence policy in the nuclear-armed nation of 220 million people.

(With inputs from agencies)