After the 1999 Pakistani coup d'état, Shehbaz along with family spent years of self-exile in Saudi Arabia, returning to Pakistan in 2007. Shehbaz was appointed Chief Minister for a second term after the PML-N's victory in Punjab province in the 2008 Pakistani general election. He was elected as Chief Minister of Punjab for the third time in 2013 and served his term until his party's defeat in the 2018 Pakistani general election.