Senior PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on February 25 submitted her nomination papers for the post of Chief Minister of Pakistan's politically crucial Punjab province.
"The nomination papers of Maryam Nawaz Sharif for the Chief Minister of Punjab have been submitted,” the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said in a post on X.
Ms. Maryam, the 50-year-old senior vice president of the PML-N, is set to become the first woman Chief Minister of Punjab province, a province of over 120 million people, as she enjoys the support of the majority in the house.
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She has already been given security usually provided to the Chief Minister and she is holding meetings with the top bureaucracy of the province.
She is considered to be the political heir of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, who surprisingly nominated his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif as his party's prime ministerial candidate.
"The election of Chief Minister Punjab will take place on Monday (tomorrow). The candidates of CM can submit nomination papers on Sunday (today)," Punjab Assembly Secretary Amer Habib said in a statement on February 25.
Meanwhile, the PML-N clinched both Speaker and Deputy Speaker offices in the Punjab Assembly.
In a marathon session of the Punjab Assembly on February 24, the lawmakers elected PML-N leader Malik Ahmad Khan as the custodian of the house and Zaheer Iqbal Channar as his deputy.
The election for the Chief Minister office will be held between Ms. Maryam and Rana Aftab Ahmad of Imran Khan's PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) nominee.
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The PML-N won 137 seats while independents backed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 113 in the Punjab Assembly. Separately, 20-odd independents, not PTI-backed, have already joined the PML-N.
The PTI-backed independent candidates have joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) to get reserved seats for women and minorities besides saving their elected members from being forced to change their loyalty by the military establishment.
However, the SIC may not get reserved seats for women and minorities, leaving the PML-N with a simple majority in Punjab.
