Maryam Nawaz, senior vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and heir apparent to party leader Nawaz Sharif, broke through gender and non-gender barriers to win the prestigious position of Punjab chief minister, marking a turning point for women’s empowerment in the country’s largely male-dominated politics. With her achievement, Maryam becomes the first woman in more than 75 years of Pakistani history to hold the top position in the country’s most populous province, making it a historic and ground-breaking occasion.
With the support of 220 members of the provincial legislature, the political scion won the elections and will now take the coveted position. It’s interesting to note that the opposition, which included the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), boycotted her election as chief minister.
With the support of 220 MPAs in the provincial parliament, Maryam emerged victorious in the elections and became Pakistan’s first female chief minister ever. The 50-year-old, who now serves as the party’s main organizer and senior vice president, is crucial in determining the path that the PML-N will take going forward.
Last Friday, February 23, Maryam made her debut in legislative politics when she took the oath of office as a member of the Punjab Assembly, the body to which her uncle Shehbaz Sharif and father were previously elected as chief ministers. The recently elected chief minister oversaw her family’s charitable endeavors before entering politics. She served as the chair of the Sharif Education Institutes, Sharif Medical City, and Sharif Trust. Maryam made her official political debut in 2012 when she assumed command of the PML-N’s election campaign in anticipation of the general elections of 2013. Her father was elected prime minister for the third time when the party won; however, his five-year term was short-lived since he was disqualified in 2017.
She became the chairwoman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Program after the elections. Her time in office, though, was brief. 2014 saw Maryam’s resignation from that role. Imran Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), began to criticize this decision, citing nepotism. A local party official also contested the legitimacy of her university degree at the Lahore High Court. In Maryam’s political career, 2017 was a pivotal year. She entered the public eye after her father was disqualified and later found guilty of wrongdoing related to the Panama Papers.
She aggressively campaigned for her mother, Kulsoom Nawaz, during the by-elections for her father’s vacant Lahore seat (NA-120).
