Maryam Nawaz elects as Punjab Chief Minister & vows to keep revenge behind

Maryam Nawaz – the vice president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) – was elected as the first women Chief Minister of Punjab amid a boycott by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) of the Elections 2024.

According to the media reports, PMLN Leader Maryam Nawaz, who has become the first-ever female chief minister in Pakistan’s history, won the elections after receiving the backing of 220 MPAs in the provincial assembly. Rana Aftab Ahmad, her opponent from the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), did not get any votes as the party boycotted the elections after they were stopped from speaking.

While presiding over the session, Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan said that the votes had been counted according to which Maryam obtained 220 votes and SIC candidate Rana Aftab Aftab secured zero votes. He invited CM-elect Maryam Nawaz after announcing the result to come to the seat of the leader of the House.

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Maryam Nawaz started her speech by congratulating the newly-elected speaker and deputy speaker and said that she wanted the opposition to be present in this democratic process. She extended an olive branch to the opposition in her maiden speech. She also thanked her party lawmakers, allied parties Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and Istehkam-e-Pakistan (IPP) members for voting in her favor.

The newly elected Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said, “This is the honor of every mother, sister, and daughter that a woman has been elected as the CM and I pray that the process continues and more women take my place as the leader of the house. I neither have a feeling of revenge nor vengeance and my journey includes my arrest, my father’s arrest, and my mother’s passing away. On this occasion, I thank my late mother too as she knowingly and unknowingly trained me for this day. She is still present with me, her prayers and best wishes. She taught me how to face trials.”

“I am thankful that you have made me occupy the seat from where a visionary leader like Nawaz started his career [and] who later made Pakistan invincible with nuclear technology,” she said adding that the senior PMLN leaders including Nawaz and Shehbaz Sharif were her mentors.