President of Pakistan Muslim League (N)

Exile
He lived in exile in London with his brother, the exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after coming from Saudi Arabia. He once tried coming back to Pakistan following a High Court decision that he was free to come back whenever he wanted. On May 11, 2004 his plane landed at Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore but he was arrested and again deported to Saudi Arabia within a few hours.


President of Pakistan Muslim League (N)
Mian Shahbaz Sharif was elected President of Pakistan Muslim League (N) on 3 August 2002 while on exile in Saudi Arabia. He was re-elected President of PML(N) for the second term on 2nd August 2006.

He was once thought of as a strong future candidate for Prime Minister of Pakistan.


Return to Pakistan
In August 2007, Supreme Court of Pakistan gave its verdict which allowed Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif to return back to Pakistan.

On September 7, 2007, judge Shabbir Hussain Chatha ordered police to arrest Shahbaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz Sharif and produce him before the court, after the hearing in Lahore. The court ruled that "Shahbaz Sharif should be arrested (at) whichever airport he lands at." Nawaz Sharif too faces detention on the pair's planned return from exile to Pakistan on September 10, 2007, to challenge President Pervez Musharraf's 8-year military rule.

His brother Shahbaz Sharif changed return plans at the last minute.

Sharif was not allowed to participate in the 2008 elections because of allegations against him. His son Hamza Sharif was supposed to run from a NA seat in Lahore but due to the death of a candidate the elections were postponed.