The UAE announces Nawaz Sharif’s victory in the Pakistani elections
Pakistan faces an uncertain political future as both Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan, former Prime Ministers, claim victory in the general elections, marked by delayed results announcements and violent attacks by insurgents. According to partial results from the Election Commission, Sharif’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz Sharif faction, secured the largest number of seats for a single party in Parliament, while Khan‘s supporters, running as independents after their party, the Pakistan Movement for Justice, was banned, won the largest number of seats overall.
In a speech to his supporters in Lahore, Sharif stated that his party is the most popular in the country and that he will seek to form a coalition government with other parties to save the country from the crises it is facing.
On the other hand, Khan announced his victory from inside his prison, where he is serving a sentence for corruption, urging his supporters to celebrate this democratic victory, achieved despite what he described as repression and fraud against his party.
Elections, held on Thursday amidst an atmosphere of violence and political tension, resulted in 28 deaths in attacks carried out by militants across the country. Vote counting was delayed for over 24 hours due to technical issues, and according to partial results, Sharif’s party won 69 seats out of 265 in Parliament, while the Pakistan Peoples Party, led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of the late President Benazir Bhutto, secured 51 seats.
No party managed to secure an absolute majority, meaning it will need partners to form the government, and analysts anticipate that political negotiations will be difficult and complex, given the extreme polarization between parties and the potential intervention of the military institution, which plays a significant role in Pakistani affairs. The winning party faces significant challenges in security, the economy, and foreign relations in a country grappling with poverty, corruption, and extremism.
Who is Nawaz Sharif?
Nawaz Sharif is a Pakistani politician and industrialist, the founder and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz Sharif faction, one of the largest political parties in the country.
He served as Prime Minister three times, from 1990 to 1993, from 1997 to 1999, and from 2013 to 2017.
Considered one of the most prominent political figures in Pakistan’s history, Sharif played a major role in developing Pakistan’s nuclear program and improving relations with India, China, and Muslim countries.
Born in 1949 in Lahore, Sharif comes from a wealthy family with a large industrial conglomerate operating in the iron and steel sector. He entered politics in the 1980s, becoming the Finance Minister and later the Chief Minister of Punjab province, with support from military ruler Zia-ul-Haq.
In 1990, he became Prime Minister for the first time but was ousted by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan on charges of corruption and despotism. He returned to power in 1997 after his party’s overwhelming victory in the elections, ordering nuclear tests in response to India’s similar tests.
However, he faced a military coup by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999 and was sentenced to 14 years in prison for treason, corruption, and terrorism. After reaching an agreement with Musharraf, Sharif left the country and lived in exile in Saudi Arabia and Britain for years.
He returned to Pakistan in 2007 after the Supreme Court nullified the coup’s ruling. He led his party in the 2008 general elections, coming second after the Pakistan Peoples Party led by Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of Benazir Bhutto.
In 2013, Sharif won the elections again and became Prime Minister for the third time, seeking to improve relations with India, Afghanistan, and the United States, and addressing the country’s economic and security crisis. However, he was ousted from office in 2017 after Panama Papers documents revealed his family’s ownership of luxury properties abroad through offshore companies. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for corruption and money laundering in 2018.
He was allowed to travel to London in 2019 for medical treatment but refused to return, claiming to be a victim of a conspiracy by the military and the court to remove him from power and enable Imran Khan, who became Prime Minister after what Sharif described as rigged elections. He currently lives in London, continuing to lead his party in exile and criticizing the current government and the military establishment. Sharif is considered one of the wealthiest politicians in Pakistan, owning a fortune estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
