SHEHBAZ Sharif is the new prime minister of Pakistan and the first one to sit in this chair for consecutive terms; he is also the second to get here after having served as chief minister of Punjab. He first headed Punjab in 1997, which was 27 years ago.

The election season is yet to end, with the approaching vote for the new president and some Senate seats. It’s perhaps safe to say, Asif Ali Zardari will soon be the new president of Pakistan, a position he last held over 10 years ago, though, of course, his political career began in 1990 when he won a seat in the National Assembly some 34 years ago. The new Speaker of the National Assembly, Ayaz Sadiq, is now settling down in this position for the third time, having first won a seat in 2002.

The first row of PML-N parliamentarians is just as experienced and familiar with the National Assembly. While the people who spoke from the opposition benches as the new parliament met included first-timer Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and the relatively younger Omar Ayub and Amir Dogar (these new faces have reached the front row thanks to the crackdown on the PTI, which has forced many among its senior lot to leave or get stuck in jail), they were answered by Khawaja Asif, Rana Tanveer and Ahsan Iqbal, who again trace their political careers back to the 1990s.

And now, before you wonder what I am on about, let me get to the point.

Pakistan is a young country and it is also one which is changing rapidly,........

© Dawn