Who is Maryam Nawaz, newly elected chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province?

Maryam Nawaz is the daughter of former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif who led the PML-N to victory in the 2013 Pak elections.

Updated on: Feb 26, 2024, 14:19:44 IST

By HT News Desk

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Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior vice president Maryam Nawaz was elected as the chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province on Monday after the nomination papers of the former and Sunni Ittehad Council's (SIC) Rana Aftab were declared valid by the election commission after scrutiny, ARY news has reported.

Pakistan's former prime minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) party Nawaz Sharif (R) along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz. (AFP)

The session, which began after a delay of 30 minutes, was presided over by newly-elected Punjab assembly speaker Malik Ahmad Khan.

Maryam Nawaz had earlier pledged to live up to the expectations of the people. Maryam is the first-ever female chief minister in Pakistan’s history who won the elections after receiving the backing of 220 MPAs in the provincial assembly, Geo News reported on Monday.

Who is Maryam Nawaz of PML-N?

Maryam Nawaz was born in 1973 in Pakistan's Lahore city. She is the daughter of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
In 2012, she entered politics. Maryam led the PML-N to victory in the 2013 Pakistan elections upon being elected as the president of the party.
In the same year, she was appointed the Chairperson of the Prime Minister's Youth Programme. However, she resigned in 2014 after her appointment was challenged in the Lahore High Court.
In 2017, Maryam was disqualified from holding public office by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in view of the Panama Papers scandal. The court ruled that Maryam was involved in money laundering. However, the PML-N denied the charges against her and maintained that she was innocent.
In 2017, Maryam was also included in the BBC's 100 Women list, recognizing influential women worldwide. In December 2017, she was featured on The New York Times list of 11 Powerful Women Around the World for the year 2017.
During the 2024 general election in Pakistan, Maryam Nawaz was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan (NA) and the Provincial Assembly of Punjab.

(With agencies' inputs)

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