Maryam Nawaz takes oath as Pakistan and Punjab’s first-ever chief minister

Pakistan and Punjab’s first-ever chief minister, Maryam Nawaz, has taken the oath of office.

Lahore: Maryam Nawaz takes oath. Maryam was administered the oath by Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman at the Governor House on Monday evening.

As she entered the ceremony hall earlier, the newly elected CM was accompanied by her father, three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, as well as prime minister-elect and former chief minister, her uncle Shehbaz Sharif.

Also in attendance were Maryam’s cousins, Hamza and Suleman Shehbaz, as well as husband Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar, children Junaid and Mehrunisa Safdar, son-in-law Raheel Munir, Chaudhry Munir, former ministers Ishaq Dar and Pervaiz Rasheed and others.

Minutes earlier, the PML-N senior vice president was elected as the first woman chief minister of the country. The Punjab Assembly’s session to elect the new leader of the House was presided over by newly appointed Speaker Malik Ahmed Khan.

Read More: Maryam pledges revival of Lahore’s development in election campaign kickoff

Maryam was elected with a huge majority of 220 votes as the opposition parties, led by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), boycotted the proceedings. Hence, her competitor, SIC’s Rana Aftab, could not bag a single vote.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif  born 28 October 1973) is a Pakistani politician, currently serving as the Chief Minister of Punjab. She is the first woman to become Chief Minister of any province of Pakistan. She is the daughter of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif and was initially involved in the family’s philanthropic organisations. However, in 2012, she entered politics and was put in charge of the election campaign during the 2013 general elections. In 2013, 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.

During 2024 Pakistani general election, she was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan (NA) and the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab for the first time, marking her parliamentary debut. She took oath as Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) thus relinquishing her seat for NA.