This State Holds the Key to Power in Scandal-Hit Pakistan
- Punjab holds key to embattled ruling party after Sharif ouster
- Younger brother shores up votes with huge infrastructure drive
Shehbaz Sharif
Photographer: Asad Zaidi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Above the pristine lobby of a new hepatitis prevention and treatment clinic in Lahore, capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province, a portrait of Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif smiles down on the waiting patients.
This is the Punjab that Sharif’s ruling party wants Pakistanis to see: a gleaming new building of white tiles and anti-bacterial paint, where doctors in crisp, white uniforms work in orderly offices. It’s part of a soaring infrastructure budget that could win votes ahead of next year’s election as Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party tries to hold onto power after his brother Nawaz Sharif was barred from being prime minister after a corruption investigation into his finances.