Maryam Nawaz

Maryam Nawaz Sharif (born 28 October 1973) is a Pakistani politician, currently serving as the Chief Minister of Punjab, in office since 26 February 2024.

She is the daughter of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif and her initial involvement in public life was through her family’s philanthropic organisations.

Maryam was born on 28 October 1973 in Lahore, Pakistan, to Nawaz Sharif and Kulsoom Butt.

She is a Punjabi Kashmiri.

Maryam later attempted to become a doctor, hence she enrolled in King Edward Medical College (KEMU) in the late 1980s; however, after a controversy over illegal admission arose, she had to leave the college without completing her degree.

A senior Pakistan People's Party official claimed that Maryam's average grades and admission test scores were insufficient for her admission to the KEMU in the late 1980s, saying that "Clearly, she did not meet the admission criteria for KEMC based on merit, Initially, she was admitted to the Army Medical College in Rawalpindi and was then transferred to KEMC within a month, which she eventually left without completing her degree."

Her attempt to become a doctor brought her some negative attention.

Later, she pursued her FSC at Lahore College for Women in 1991.

When she faced rejection from Kinnaird College due to academic underperformance, her father Nawaz Sharif, who was the chief minister of Punjab at the time, intervened by suspending the principal.

However, a strike organized by the college students and staff led to the principal being reinstated.

She was then enrolled at Fatima Jinnah Medical University in Lahore, but did not complete her medical education, and dropped out in 1992 after getting married to Safdar Awan at the age of 19.

After marriage, she assumed her husband's surname as Maryam Safdar.

Safdar was serving as captain in the Pakistan Army at that time and was the security officer of Nawaz Sharif during the latter's tenure as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

She has three children with Safdar Awan: One son, Junaid, and two daughters, Mahnoor and Mehr-un-Nisa.

She completed undergraduate studies from the University of the Punjab, from where she received a master's degree in English Literature in literature.

Maryam was detained for the first time on October 12, 1999, following the 1999 Pakistani coup d'état led by Gen Pervez Musharraf, which ousted her father, then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Arrested by female members of the Pakistan Army Corps of Military Police, she along with her mother Kulsoom Nawaz and other female members of the Sharif family was promptly transferred to her residence where they were placed under house arrest, in contrast to her father, who was taken to Adiala Jail.

In November 1999, she, along with other female members of the Sharif family, was granted release on "humanitarian grounds" at the request of a Arab ruler.

Maryam's first notable appearance was in a BBC interview, where she recounted her father's imprisonment by General Pervez Musharraf and appealed for public support for her father Nawaz.

She along with her mother, gained prominence during this period.

After being released from a four-month house arrest, she found herself shuttling between prisons, as she listened to the charges of corruption, terrorism, and tax evasion against her father.

Later, she, along with 22 members of the Sharif family, was sent into exile in Saudi Arabia.

During her long exile, she prioritized her role in raising her children during and also became fluent in Arabic

Maryam's father Nawaz Sharif ended his exile and returned to Pakistan in 2007 prior to the 2008 Pakistani general election in which her father's party, Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N), emerged as one of the two largest parties.

During PML-N's government in Punjab, criticisms were leveled against the party for being perceived as soft on terrorism and sectarian groups, and for its inability to improve Punjab's economy.

However, Maryam was noted for advocating minority rights and opposing political alliances with banned militant outfits.

Maryam expressed regret over the inability of her father's party, PML-N, and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to maintain their short-lived coalition following the election.

She received her education from the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Lahore completing her pre-nursery through 10th grade.

However, her political career began in earnest in 2012 when she took charge of the election campaign for the 2013 general elections.

In 2012, she was doing her PhD degree on post-9/11 radicalization in Pakistan and was described as being fond of postcolonial writers such as Chinua Achebe and also an admirer of the poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz.

Reportedly, she did her PhD at the University of Cambridge.

Following the elections, she was appointed as the Chairperson of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme in 2013.

Despite her active role, she resigned from the position in 2014 after her appointment was legally challenged in the Lahore High Court.

In the 2024 Pakistani general election, Maryam made her first appearance in the parliament by being elected to both the National Assembly of Pakistan and the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab.

After being sworn in as a Member of the Provincial Assembly, she chose to give up her seat in the National Assembly.

On 26 February 2024, she assumed the role of Chief Minister of Punjab, marking the first instance of a woman serving as a Chief Minister in any province of Pakistan.

In 2014, her degrees of Master in English Literature and PhD in Political Science were questioned by the Lahore High Court.

It was unclear whether her PhD degree was earned or honorary.

In 2018, she only declared her master's degree in English Literature while submitting records to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

She is the eldest among four siblings, and she also has a sister named Asma.