Sharif brother to carry Pakistan political dynasty

Bloomberg

To continue his family’s political dynasty ahead of next year’s vote, ousted Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif is looking to his younger brother Shehbaz—widely seen as the more disciplined sibling with a reputation for forcing through economic reforms.
Pakistan’s ruling party over the weekend was quick to nominate Shehbaz, the chief minister of Punjab province, to take over his brother’s old role. In the meantime, a caretaker prime minister will be appointed for 45 days to allow Shehbaz to contest Nawaz’s seat in a by-election. Nawaz was barred from office on Friday in a unprecedented ruling from the nation’s top court, which said he had not been “honest” in his company disclosures, becoming the second world leader to be felled by last year’s so-called Panama Papers leak.
To some, Shehbaz will be seen as a steady hand before elections next year with an ability to drive badly-needed infrastructure projects as the nation’s current account deficit widens after years of steady economic growth. To others, his anointment is a cynical play by the Sharif family to cling to power despite being muddied by numerous corruption allegations.
Pakistan’s economy has been growing at an annual rate of above 4 percent since 2014, with Punjab contributing over half the country’s gross domestic product. In his latest term, Shehbaz has ushered in the construction of LNG and coal power plants across the province, boosting electricity generation and reducing the length of daily blackouts.
Shehbaz, 65, is an efficient administrator who usually sleeps only four hours a night, according to two people with direct knowledge of his habits, who asked not to be named so they could talk freely about the politician. He starts meetings around 8 a.m., in contrast to laxer Pakistani working hours and his staff aren’t allowed to sleep until midnight so they can continue to field calls from him, the people said.
He can bulldoze through Pakistan’s usually ponderous bureaucracy and complete infrastructure projects in record time, they said, and often berates officials during meetings. The construction of a giant power plant in Sahiwal, for example, was completed in 22 months, ahead of the usual four years it usually takes for a plant that size. Shehbaz’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“He is pragmatic,” said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a political analyst in Lahore. “He has a highly personalized way of ruling. He doesn’t believe in sharing—he needs to change that style a bit, otherwise there will be trouble for him running the system.”
During an interview at his residence in Lahore last month, some of that irritation surfaced when asked questions Pakistan’s on daily power blackouts.