Maryam Nawaz becomes Pakistan's first female Chief Minister

Maryam Nawaz was sworn in as the first woman Chief Minister (CM) of Pakistan's Punjab province on 26 February 2024. Maryam Nawaz took oath at the Punjab Governor House in the presence of her father Nawaz Sharif and uncle Shahbaz Sharif.

• Maryam has become the first woman Chief Minister of any state of Pakistan. Whereas Benazir Bhutto was the first and only woman Prime Minister of Pakistan till date.
• Maryam Nawaz has been the senior vice president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

Maryam got the support of 220 MLAs: 

• Voting took place in the Punjab Assembly, in which Maryam Nawaz won. Maryam got the support of 220 MLAs. Whereas Sunni Ittehad Council (sic) candidate Rana Aftab, who had boycotted the House, did not get a single vote.
• According to Geo News, to win the Chief Minister's election, a candidate will have to gain the support of the majority, which is 187 members in the House. Currently there are 327 seats.
• The newly elected Chief Minister Maryam has majority support in the House. Maryam is supported by the following parties:
  • PML-N
  • Pakistan People's Party (PPP)
  • Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q)
  • Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP)

About Punjab Assembly of Pakistan:

• The Punjab Assembly is the largest elected house of Pakistan with 371 seats.
• There are a total of 297 general seats and 74 reserved seats, which include 66 seats designated for women and 8 seats allocated for minorities.
• Elections for 296 general seats were held on February 8, with one seat's polling postponed due to a candidate's death.

About Maryam Nawaz:

• Maryam Nawaz is the first child of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif. She grew up in Lahore. She was married to a man who had been an army officer. Who was Nawaz Sharif's ADC in the 90s when her father was the Prime Minister.
• The Sharif family is traditional and conservative in nature. In such a situation, she was not expected to participate in politics, nor was she prepared for it.
• Maryam's father Nawaz Sharif was imprisoned by former army chief Pervez Musharraf in a coup in October 1999. Till then, she was maintaining a low profile and raising her two children.
• At that time the rest of the men in her family were also put under house arrest.
• In such circumstances, Maryam along with her mother appeared in public for the first time. Coming in front of the people, she openly challenged General Musharraf and supported her father.
• A few months later, with the help of the King of Saudi Arabia, Maryam and her mother made a deal with General Musharraf. Under this deal, Nawaz Sharif was released from jail and deported to Saudi Arabia with his family in December 2000.
• After that Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan in the year 2007. During exile, Maryam started preparing herself to enter politics.
• Earlier, BBC had included her in its list of 100 influential women.
• Maryam has previously managed to find a place in the New York Times list of 11 powerful women in the world.

Political journey of Maryam Nawaz:

• Maryam Nawaz has been continuously active in politics since 2011. But for the first time, she has become a member of the Pakistani Parliament, National Assembly, in the elections held on 8 February 2024.
• Maryam Nawaz Sharif secured a total of 220 votes in the provincial assembly.
• At present, Maryam's name is included among the special leaders of Pakistan.