Shehbaz only ex-PM who contested for MPA seat

LAHORE : PMLN President Shehbaz Sharif is the only former prime minister who contested for Provincial Assembly seat despite taking oath as the PM of the country.

Never before him, such precedent has been seen in which a figure who took oath as the Prime Minister opted to contest the Provincial Assembly election as well as along with the National Assembly.

In the 2024 general elections, Shehbaz Sharif had won from two National Assembly seats besides winning the Provincial Assembly election as well, thus making things clear that he still wants to assume some important role in Punjab in case he does not take oath in NA. Two other members of Sharif family including Hamza Shehbaz Sharif, who is also the former Chief Minister of Punjab and Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the daughter of PMLN supermo Nawaz Sharif has also won from National as well as Provincial Assembly seats.

Amongst the former Prime Ministers, two including Nawaz Sharif and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf are the figures who had contested Provincial Assembly polls in their political career. However, the day these two took oath in the National Assembly, they never contested the Provincial Assembly election again. Nawaz won from a National Assembly as well as a Provincial Assembly seat of Lahore in 1985, 1988 and 1990.

In 1985 and 1988, he retained the Provincial Assembly seat but in 1990, when he took oath in the National Assembly, he not only vacated the Provincial Assembly seat but never contested at the Provincial level.

Similarly, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf contested the Provincial Assembly election from Gujjer Khan, district Rawalpindi in 1990 and 1993. He won the National Assembly seat in 2002 and since then, he never contested on a Provincial Assembly seat.

He won 2002, 2008, 2018 and 2024 elections and became MNA but he was never able to win the Provincial Assembly seat. Similarly, the former Prime Ministers like Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussein, Shaukat Aziz, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Imran Khan never contested on a Provincial Assembly seat and same was the case with Muhammad Khan Junejo and Zafar Ullah Jamali who were never seen contesting the Provincial Assembly election after taking oath as PM of the country.

However, Shehbaz Sharif is the only political figure of the country who has still kept his connection with the Provincial side after taking oath as PM. Shehbaz Sharif started his political career in 1988 general elections when he became MPA from Lahore. He won from both National and Provincial Assembly seats in 1990, 1993, 1997.

In 2008, he got elected from Pindi and Bhakkar in the by polls after which he took oath as CM Punjab and replaced Dost Muhammad Khosa. He contested from both National and Provincial Assembly seats in 2013, 2018 and recently in 2024 elections.