Islamabad: Maryam Nawaz, the media-savvy daughter of ousted Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has decided to contest in the next general election, a prominent newspaper reported on Friday, citing a source in the ruling party.
Maryam, 44, was being groomed as the second generation leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by Sharif. The 68-year-old three-time prime minister had to resign last year after the Supreme Court disqualified him in the Panama Papers case.
She is set to contest the election from the NA-120 constituency in Lahore, where her father was elected in the 2013 polls, the Dawn newspaper reported.
She may also campaign for the provincial assembly from the PP-140 seat, it quoted the source in the Pakistan Muslim League PML-N led by Sharif.
Maryam, however, is yet to confirm or deny the reports of her running in the upcoming elections, the paper said.
General elections are scheduled to be held in Pakistan in mid-2018.
Maryam, born in Lahore in 1973 has taken an interest in politics since the 1999 coup that sent her family into exile. However, in interviews since then, she has claimed to be more interested in the world of politics and power that lies beyond the assemblies, the paper noted.
The former premier’s daughter has also been in the spotlight facing corruption case since the Panama Papers were released in April 2016.
The Sharif family has denied any wrongdoing.
Last year, she campaigned for her mother, Kulsoom Nawaz, during the NA-120 by-election following her father’s disqualification. Since Sharif’s ouster, she has taken a more active and visible role in party politics.
Maryam, who also actively campaigned in NA-120 for her father during the 2013 election, has faced criticism from senior politicians who say she has never held a position within a political party and lacks the experience necessary to contest the general election or become an elected leader, the report said.
However, it is Maryam who has been singled out by political analysts as a successor to her father and uncle Shahbaz Sharif’s legacy within the PML-N — not her brothers or cousin Hamza Shahbaz, it added.
