from Year in Review 1997: Biography

In the seesaw world of Pakistani politics, Mohammed Nawaz Sharif once again vaulted to the top of the political heap in 1997 when his party, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections on February 3. The victory, which secured for Sharif the office of prime minister and gave the PML 134 of the 217 seats in the National Assembly, may have marked the end of the political career of Sharif's chief rival, Benazir Bhutto. The first woman to lead a Muslim nation, Bhutto was Pakistan's prime minister from late 1988 until her government was sacked for alleged corruption in August 1990. She was replaced by Sharif, who held the prime ministership until he himself was dismissed on corruption charges in 1993. In the October 1993 elections Bhutto resumed power, which she held until her government was ousted again in November 1996. Because of widespread discontent with Bhutto's government, a victory for Sharif in 1997 had been expected, though his stunning performance at the polls surprised even the most ardent of his supporters.

Sharif was born on Dec. 25, 1949, in Lahore, Pak. After earning an L.L.B. from the University of the Punjab, Lahore, he joined his family's influential House of Ittefaq (Ittefaq Group), an industrial conglomerate with interests in sugar, steel, and textiles. Entering politics, he became the finance minister of Punjab in 1981 and the chief minister of Punjab in 1985. As leader of the PML, the primary party of the coalition Islamic Democratic Alliance, he was first elected prime minister in October 1990. He became known both for his efforts to revitalize the country economically and for his headstrong and controversial personality. He continued as a vocal opponent to Bhutto until his 1997 victory.

Despite a strong mandate, Sharif's government faced severe problems. A harsh fiscal diet imposed by the International Monetary Fund was strangling spending at a time when about half of the country's money was being allocated to servicing the debt. Tax evasion was rife, corruption was widespread, and sectarian tensions were hot. Relations with India remained thorny, although Sharif announced that he would renew efforts to improve them.

Soon after taking office, Sharif set about trimming the powers of the president and the military. His attempt to block the appointment of five additional judges to the Supreme Court late in the year, however, sparked a constitutional crisis. Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, another of Sharif's rivals, was later suspended from the court on a technicality. Rather than appoint a replacement for the chief justice, Pres. Farooq Ahmed Leghari unexpectedly resigned from his post in December after bitterly accusing Sharif of attempting to grab sole power. The twin exits of the president and the chief justice appeared to be another major triumph for Sharif.ANN M. BELASKI