Maryam Nawaz makes history as Punjab’s first female CM

LAHORE: Maryam Nawaz, daughter of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, etched her name in Pakistan’s political history as the first female chief minister (CM) of Punjab, the nation’s pivotal province.

Opposition party Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) boycotted the voting process.

The session was summoned to meet at 11am but it started with a delay of 30 minutes and was presided by newly-elected Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan. 

The session experienced a brief disruption when Sunni Ittehad Council members attempted to speak on a point of order but were halted by the speaker, who emphasized that the sole agenda for the day was the election of the CM. Consequently, the STI staged a walkout and boycotted the proceedings and the voting process.

Speaker started the voting process for the election of CM without the SIC members.

After the counting, speaker announced that Maryam Nawaz secured 220 votes and hence became the CM Punjab. Rana Aftab secured zero votes.

Punjab Assembly currently has 371 members and the PML-N enjoys the backing of 224 MPAs in the provincial assembly.

Maryam’s opponent was the candidate fielded by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Aftab Ahmad Khan, who has the support of 103 MPAs. 

Aftab has served as a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA for three terms in the Punjab Assembly in 1988, 1993 and 2002. He joined the PTI in 2013 and is now serving his fourth term.

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 At 50 years old, Maryam assumes this historic mantle while serving as the senior vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), positioning herself as the political heir to her father, Nawaz Sharif.

The PML-N’s nomination of Maryam as the chief ministerial candidate underscores the party’s confidence in her leadership prowess in steering Punjab, home to over 120 million residents.

Punjab’s political landscape, often dubbed Pakistan’s political battleground, holds sway over a significant portion of the nation’s parliamentary seats and serves as the crucible of its political, military, and industrial elite.

Before venturing into politics, Maryam dedicated herself to the Sharif family’s philanthropic endeavors, chairing prominent institutions like the Sharif Trust, Sharif Medical City, and Sharif Education Institutes. Her formal foray into politics commenced in 2012, spearheading the PML-N’s election campaign ahead of the 2013 general elections, culminating in her father’s ascendancy to the prime ministerial office for the third time.

Apart from becoming the first female chief minister in the country, Maryam became the fourth member of the Sharif family and first woman member of her family to get elected as CM.