- February 26, 2024
- Kainat Shakeel
- 0
LAHORE: On Monday, in a solemn ceremony held on the expansive lawns of the Governor’s House here, Maryam Nawaz Sharif took the oath of office as the Chief Minister of Punjab. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif took the oath from Governor Punjab Muhammad Balighur Rehman, becoming the nation’s first elected female chief executive of a province. The appointment’s directives were read by Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Zaman.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who placed a picture of her late mother Kalsoom Nawaz Sharif in front of her on this historic day that a woman would take the helm as Chief Minister, was accompanied by her father, Quaid Muhammad Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and her uncle, Prime Minister-designate Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif. As a way to accommodate more visitors to witness their beloved leader making history, the oath-taking took place on the Governor’s House lawns rather than in the customary Darbar Hall. The ritual began with the reciting of passages from the Quran, and then Nabiyeen Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) performed Naat e Rasool e Maqbool Khatam.
Many diplomats, leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), MNAs, MPAs, members of the armed forces, and government employees, including the Chief Secretary of Punjab, Zahid Zaman, and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Punjab, Dr. Usman Anwer, as well as attorneys, prominent journalists, anchors, and a sizable number of party workers, were present at the ceremony.
The chief minister Maryam Nawaz’s family was in attendance, including her husband Capt. (Retd.) Safdar, son Junaid Safdar, daughters, and granddaughters. Salman Shehbaz and Hamza Shehbaz Sharif, the former chief minister, were also in attendance. Among the esteemed attendees were Iranian Consul General Mehran Movahed, Chinese Consul General Zhao Shiren, Turkiye Consul General Durmus Bastug, and U.S. Consul General Kristin Hawkins in Lahore.
The leaders of the party that stood out were Khawaja Saad Rafique, Ayaz Sadiq, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Rohail Asghar, Khurram Dastgir Khan, Attaullah Tarar, Rana Sanaullah Khan, Ishaq Dar, Ahsan Iqbal, Talal Chaudhry, Amir Muqam, Attaullah Tarar, and Pervaiz Rasheed.