Senior PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on Monday became the first woman chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province.
Maryam, the 50-year-old senior vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, won the chief ministerial elections amidst a walkout by lawmakers of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
The PML-N leader defeated Rana Aftab of the PTI-backed SIC to win the chief ministerial elections for the politically crucial Punjab province, home to 120 million people.
Maryam paid a visit to her mother’s grave at Jati Umra before going to the Punjab Assembly, where the election for the post of chief minister took place.
In a post on X, the PML-N said Maryam also visited the graves of her paternal grandparents.
“For the first time in the history of our nation, a woman will become the CM of Punjab. Maryam Nawaz Sharif will be the first woman to take the oath as CM Punjab!,” the PML-N had said in a post on X before the election.
Addressing the Punjab Assembly after the election, Maryam Nawaz said her appointment is an honour for every woman in Pakistan and added she has no desire for revenge against the Opposition. “I want to thank those who put me in difficulties, which included death cells, court visits, incarceration of my father and the death of mother, but, despite all this, I feel indebted to my adversaries.“Today, where I am standing, it is all because of this struggle,” Dawn reported quoting Maryam. The Opposition boycotted the election and staged a walkout after the results were announced.
Maryam announced a relief package for Ramzan called Nigheban, free medicines in government hospitals and a dedicated helpline for women.