Mian Muhammad Hamza Shahbaz (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Punjabi: ; born 6 September 1974) is a Pakistani politician, who is current Leader of the Opposition in the

Provincial Assembly of Punjab The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Punjab, which is located in Lahore, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Paki ...

, in office since 20 October, 2022, He served in this position from September 2018 to April 2022 when he was elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab from 30 April 2022 to 26 July 2022 (Trustee from 22 July). He has been a member of the

since August 2018. Previously, he was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from June 2008 to May 2018. He is the eldest son of current

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Shehbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: , ; born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who is currently serving as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, in office since 11 April 2022. He is the current president of ...

Early and personal life

Hamza was born on 6 September 1974 to

. He is a businessman by profession and is known as 'Poultry King of Punjab'. He ran the family business when his family was in exile. He allegedly has three wives, one of whom is Ayesha Ahad Malik. Ayesha claimed she married Hamza in 2010. Hamza denied his marriage with Ayesha. He married Rabia Hamza in 2012. In 2018, he declared his two wives' details in his nomination papers, Mehrunissah Hamza and Rabia Hamza.

Political career

Hamza participated in politics from early age and was imprisoned in

Adiala Jail Central Jail Rawalpindi (also known as Adiala Jail) is a prominent prison in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. History The Central Jail Rawalpindi was built from the late 1970s and early 1980s during the military regime of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, aft ...

during his college life in 1994 along with other Pakistan Muslim League leaders. He began his political career in October 1999 when

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

sent his father Shahbaz Sharif and uncle Nawaz Sharif into exile following the

1999 Pakistani coup d'état The 1999 military takeover in Pakistan was a bloodless ''coup d'état'' initiated by the military staff at the Joint Staff HQ working under Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Pervez Musharraf. The instigators seized c ...

. Hamza was allowed to remain in Pakistan to look after family businesses. In 2011, it was reported that the PML-N was considering promoting Hamza as the general-secretary of the Punjab chapter. He ran for the seat of Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as an independent candidate from Constituency PP-142 (Lahore-VI) in 2008 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful. He received 111 votes and lost the seat to Khawaja Salman Rafique. He was elected unopposed to the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) from Constituency NA-119 (Lahore-II) in by-elections held in June 2008. Hamza was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-119 (Lahore-II) in 2013 Pakistani general election. In 2016, ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's hori ...

'' called Hamza as informal deputy prime minister of Pakistan and deputy chief minister of Punjab. He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-124 (Lahore-II) in 2018 Pakistani general election. In the same election, he was elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency PP-146 (Lahore-III). Following his successful election, he abandoned his national assembly seat in favor of the provincial assembly seat. On 13 August 2018, PML-N nominated him for the office of Chief Minister of Punjab. On 19 August 2018, he received 159 votes and lost the office to

Sardar Usman Buzdar Sardar Usman Ahmad Khan Buzdar ( ur, ; born 1 May 1969) is a Pakistani politician and previously served as Chief Minister of The Punjab from 20 August 2018 to 30 April 2022. He has been a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab since Aug ...

who secured 186 votes. On 25 August 2018, PML-N nominated Hamza for the office of the opposition leader in Punjab Assembly. On 6 September 2018, he was appointed as Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly. Hamza Shehbaz ran for Chief Minister of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab and was elected on 16 April 2022 after getting 197 votes against his opponent

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi (Urdu, pa, ; born 1 November 1945) is a Pakistani politician who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Punjab and the President of Pakistan Muslim League (Q), a conservative centrist to centre-right-nationalis ...

. He is also serving as the Vice President of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) since May 2019 of which his father Mian Shahbaz Sharif is the President.

Chief Ministership

The Hamza Shahbaz Chief Ministry was formed on 30 April 2022, after Hamza was nominated as candidate for Chief Minister of Punjab by opposition parties after the resignation of Usman Buzdar. He took oath as the legally invalid 19th Chief Minister of Punjab on 30 April 2022. He had the majority of 11 seats in the ruling alliance that was formed of three political parties and 4 independent candidates. However in light of the orders given by the

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate a ...

, Hamza Shehbaz was to be considered as never having been Chief Minister and his election to be invalid as well as all his orders given during his invalid tenure. He was succeeded by

as the officially proclaimed 19th Chief Minister of Punjab, due to gained majority of votes in the election in the Provincial Assembly for electing the Chief Minister, and the successive Supreme Court ruling. Hamza Shahbaz and others

Assets

In 2014, Dawn reported that Hamza Shahbaz Sharif is wealthier than his father,

Shahbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: , ; born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who is currently serving as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, in office since 11 April 2022. He is the current president of ...

, with net assets of Rs 250.46m. A report noted Hamza's assets increased from Rs 583,191 declared in 2008 to Rs 211,080,295 in 2011. As of 2018, Hamza's declared asset worth was Rs 411 million.

Corruption allegations

He was arrested on 11 June 2019 by the

National Accountability Bureau The National Accountability Bureau ( ur, ; abbreviated NAB) is an autonomous and constitutionally established federal institution responsible to build efforts against corruption and prepare critical national economic intelligence assessments ...

over corruption charges. The arrest was made based on alleged money laundering and holding assets beyond means. In another scandal

Federal Investigation Agency The Federal Investigation Agency ( ur, ; reporting name: FIA) is a border control, criminal investigation, counter-intelligence and security agency under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan, tasked with investigative jurisdi ...

revealed 28 benami accounts through which reportedly money laundering of Rs. 16.3 bn was made through seventeen thousand credit transactions. FIA claimed that Eleven low-paid employees of the Sharif group were used to excute these transactions. Hamza Shahbaz and his father

were to be indicted on February 10, 2022. However, the indictment was delayed on 18, February 2022 by Special Central Court of Lahore. In the sugar scandal case

alleged that money laundering of Rs. 25 bn was done using employees of Ramzan (RSML) and AI-Arabia Sugar Mills (ASML) using fake accounts. However, Hamza Shabaz denied these claims and termed it as business transaction. Hamza was given pre-arrest bail on sugar scam on January 28, 2022. Hamza Shehbaz got pre-arrest bail in money laundering, and sugar scams in January 2022, and was subsequently granted bail on 24 February 2021 by Lahore High Court over an asset beyond known means case.

References

{{Sharif family Living people 1974 births Pakistani MNAs 2008–2013 Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018 Pakistani people of Kashmiri descent Pakistan Muslim League (N) MNAs Politicians from Lahore Hamza Pakistani prisoners and detainees Pakistan Muslim League (N) MPAs (Punjab) Punjabi people Leaders of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab Punjab MPAs 2018–2023