Lahore: Senior PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, on Monday took oath as the first-ever woman chief minister of Pakistan’s most populous and politically crucial Punjab province, a development described by her party as a “giant leap” for the country.
Maryam, the 50-year-old senior vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, took oath as the Punjab chief minister at a ceremony at the Governor House in the presence of her father Nawaz Sharif and uncle Shehbaz Sharif.
She earlier won the chief ministerial elections amidst a walkout by lawmakers of former prime minister Imran Khan’s party-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
In her maiden speech at the provincial legislature earlier, Maryam thanked God, her father, Nawaz Sharif, uncle Shehbaz Sharif and the lawmakers who voted for her.
Maryam said that she was happy to sit in the seat where her father used to sit. “My father trained me how to run the office,” Maryam, considered the political heir of Nawaz Sharif, said.
Pak govt likely by March 2
With a power-sharing deal already inked, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party are moving ahead with plans to form a coalition govt by March 2 and hold the presidential election before March 9, according to a media report. PML-N and PPP agreed to form a new govt after the Feb 8 polls resulted in a hung Parliament.
Former PM Shehbaz Sharif, 72, is set to return to the top post after his elder brother Nawaz decided to nominate the PML-N president for premiership. Both parties won fewer seats than candidates backed by jailed former PM Imran Khan.
Quoting sources, News International reported that serious consideration is being given to the proposal to hold the presidential election before March 9 as the newly elected assemblies across the country will take oath by Feb 29 and a new govt will be in place by March 2. PML-N, PPP, and their allied parties want the presidential election to be held by March 8 before the completion of the current tenure of the Senate and for the Senate elections to be held after the president is elected.
PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, 68, will likely return to the presidency as per the party’s deal with PML-N.