Nawaz Sharif Pakistan’s three-time PM due home from exile

Reuters :
Nawaz Sharif, whose three terms as prime minister of Pakistan were marred by corruption allegations and standoffs with the powerful military, is expected to return home on Saturday from self-imposed exile.

Following are some facts about the veteran politician:
Sharif, 73, did not complete any of his three terms as prime minister in 1990-93, 1997-99, and 2013-17.

He was removed as premier by a military-backed president in 1993, ousted in a coup in 1999, and disqualified by a court in 2017.

Sharif was born to a family of industrialists, made his money in steel manufacturing and grew the family-run Ittefaq Group.

He entered politics in the late 1970s and was picked as finance minister of Punjab in 1981.

He was known to have close ties with the generals, impressing them with policies that spurred economic growth in Punjab, and was groomed by military dictator Zia ul-Haq. With the generals’ backing, he became the chief minister of Pakistan’s most populous and prosperous province in 1985.

In 1990, Sharif won a general election and became prime minister for the first time, succeeding Pakistan’s first female prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, whose government was dismissed by the then president on charges of corruption.