LAHORE: Maryam Nawaz Sharif was on Monday sworn in as the Chief Minister of Punjab during a grand yet solemn ceremony on the sprawling lawns of the Governor House here.
Punjab Governor Muhammad Balighur Rehman administered the oath of office to Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who became the country’s first ever woman elected as a provincial chief executive. Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Zaman read out the appointment orders.
On this historic occasion of a woman taking over the reins as Chief Minister, Maryam Nawaz Sharif was accompanied by her father and Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) Quaid Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and uncle-designate Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, while she also placed photographs of her late of Kalsoom Nawaz Sharif’s mother before her on the occasion. Instead of the traditional Darbar Hall, the swearing-in was held on the lawns of the Governor’s House to make room for more guests to watch their popular leader make history.
The ceremony began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran followed by Naat e Rasool e Maqbool Khatam un Nabiyeen Muhammad (P.B.U.H.).
The ceremony was attended by a large number of diplomats, leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), MNAs, MPAs, representatives of armed forces, government functionaries including Chief Secretary Punjab Zahid Zaman, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab Dr. Usman Anwer, lawyers, leading journalists, presenters and a large number of party workers.
The family of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz including her husband Captain (Retd) Safdar, son Junaid Safdar, daughters and granddaughters were present on the occasion. Former Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz Sharif and Salman Shehbaz were also present.
Distinguished guests included US Consul General in Lahore Kristin Hawkins, Chinese Consul General Zhao Shiren, Turkish Consul General in Lahore Durmus Bastug and Iranian Consul General in Lahore Mehran Movahed.
Prominent among the leaders of the party were Ishaq Dar, Ahsan Iqbal, Talal Chaudhry, Amir Muqam, Attaullah Tarar, Rana Sanaullah Khan, Pervaiz Rasheed, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Ayaz Sadiq, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Rohail Asghar, Khurved Dastgir and .
PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz was elected the first woman Chief Minister of Punjab on Monday with 220 votes, while her opponent and Sunni Ittehad Council candidate Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan did not get a single vote.
The PA session started almost 40 minutes after the scheduled time of 11:00 AM and was chaired by Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan. The session began with the recitation of verses from the Quran followed by Naat-e-Rasool-e-Maqbool (Peace be upon him).
The Speaker directed the Secretary of the Assembly to inform the members about the progress of the voting. As soon as this was done, the SIC CM candidate asked the speaker to speak in the House on a point of order but was barred from speaking. “Only Chief Minister election will be held in today’s session. You cannot speak in today’s session,” Speaker Khan told the SIC candidate as he tried to speak.
After being barred from speaking, SIC members walked out of the House, leading to a delay in the start of the election. The speaker formed a committee comprising Khawaja Salman Rafique, Salman Nazeer, Samiullah and Khalil Tahir Sindhu to convince the legislators to return to the assembly.
The speaker then also sent Ali Haider Gilani of PPP and Chaudhry Shafay Hussain of PML-Q to convince the SIC MPAs to return one last time.
The spokesman warned that if the lawmakers did not return, then he would move forward with the proceedings.
However, the efforts came to naught and the Speaker then resumed the meeting and began the process of electing a new Speaker of the House.
Later, after the voting was completed and the votes were counted, PA Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan announced the results and declared Maryam Nawaz as the leader of the House.
The speaker also congratulated Maryam Nawaz for becoming Punjab CM.
Maryam Nawaz during her maiden speech thanked Allah Almighty for electing her as CM. She also congratulated Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan and Zaheer Iqbal Channar for being elected as Speaker and Vice Speaker respectively.
Addressing the rally, she said, “We are all democratic workers. PML-N has faced many hardships, but thanks to Allah Almighty, the party and its members have remained undeterred. I am upset today that the honorable members of the opposition bench are not here, I wish they were part of political and democratic process.Earlier PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad council MPAs boycotted the CM elections.
Maryam Nawaz said that she is the director of the entire house and even those who did not vote for her.
“Competition is the beauty of democracy,” Maryam said, thanking Pakistan People’s Party, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party, PML-Q and all allies who supported her.
She said her appointment was an honor for every woman in the country and hoped the tradition of female leadership would continue in the future. She said she had no intention of revenge.
She thanked her late mother for preparing her for difficult situations. She also paid tribute to her late mother and thanked her teachers.
She also paid tribute to her father, who she said guided her from the general election to the position she was in today. She conveyed a message to the youth to pay respect to their parents as the prayers of parents are very important for the success of their children.
She said that she will pass on the legacy of the top leadership of PML-N and she was not contested by rivals but big visionary names in the section.
Maryam Nawaz said that she is not the CM from PML-N but the entire population of Punjab across all political differences. She said the focus must be on uplifting all segments of society. “Our manifesto will be implemented right from today after I take oath as CM,” she added.
She said she wanted a transparent system of governance and added that Punjab would become a business hub.
“The government’s task is to create policies and provide facilities to the business community. Entrepreneurs will be provided with a single window,” she added.
She said that the Ramazan relief package has been prepared as ‘Nigheban’ and under this package essential items will be delivered at doorsteps. “Corruption would not be tolerated at all,” she claimed.
“Educational scholarships will be restored and special attention will be given to empower the youth,” she said, adding that students who are deserving but cannot afford education will be facilitated by the Punjab Endowment Fund and “we will try to get them admitted in a reputed university. “
She further stated that starting today, medicines will be provided free of charge in all emergency rooms of public hospitals, with the health card being launched again. “Nursing schools would be modernized,” she said.
“First Air Ambulance in Punjab very soon.
LAHORE: Following the support of XXX MPAs in the provincial assembly, Maryam Nawaz, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), emerged victorious in the elections and was sworn in as Punjab’s chief minister on Sunday, despite the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) boycotting the polls. The opposition candidate, Rana Aftab Aftab Ahmad, of the SIC, did not receive any votes as a result of the party’s boycott of the polls.
Malik Ahmad Khan, the recently elected speaker of the Punjab Assembly, was presiding over the meeting, which started more than thirty minutes behind schedule.
Speaker Khan swore in two MPAs at the opening of the session and told the legislators he would manage the House impartially.
The speaker then informed the Assembly that Maryam Nawaz of the PML-N and Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan of the SIC had emerged as the front-runners for the chief minister position following the examination of the nomination papers.
The speaker then gave the assembly secretary instructions to inform the members about the voting procedure.
After this was finished, the CM candidate for the SIC asked to speak on a point of order to the House, but the speaker denied him or her access.
“Only the chief minister’s election will take place at today’s session. The SIC candidate attempted to speak, but Speaker Khan cut him off. “You cannot speak in today’s session.”
