PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday became the first-ever woman chief minister of a province in the country.
Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was elected as chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province. She described it as an ‘honour’ for every woman in the country, PTI reported.
Maryam Nawaz, the 50-year-old senior vice president of the PML-N party won the chief ministerial elections amidst a walkout by lawmakers of former PM Imran Khan's party-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
"Today, every woman of the province is proud to see a woman chief minister," she was quoted as saying.
Maryam Nawaz’s political journey in brief:
Maryam Nawaz was born in 1973 in Pakistan's Lahore city. Her entry to the politics began in 2012. A year later as president she led her party—PML-N to victory in the elections.
However, there was a downslide to her political career in 2017. It was when she was barred from holding public office by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in view of the Panama Papers scandal.
In 2018, she faced legal challenges that cast a shadow on her political career. Ahead of 2018 Pakistan General Elections, a court awarded her seven-year sentence in the Avenfield corruption reference case.
This conviction was a major setback for Maryam Nawaz as it rendered her ineligible to run in the nationwide elections. Later, she was also arrested in other cases. However, after her bail in 2019, she began her politics.
In September 2022, the Islamabad High Court overturned her as well as her husband Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar’s corruption conviction, allowing her to contest the 2024 general elections.
In January 2023, the PML-N appointed her as the senior vice president.
