Maryam Nawaz Sharif, also known as Maryam Safdar, is a Pakistani politician and the daughter of Nawaz Sharif, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan. She is currently serving as Senior Vice President of the Pakistan Muslim League (N). She entered politics in 2012 and was put as head of her father’s political party’s election campaign during the 2013 general elections. Following the elections, she was named Chairperson of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme. She resigned in 2014, however, when her appointment was attacked by Imran Khan for nepotism, and her degree was disputed in the Lahore High Court.
Maryam Nawaz was recognized for and became the target of the Fontgate incident. In a July 2017 corruption prosecution involving her family’s ill-gotten finances, Maryam presented a 2006 declaration indicating that she was just a trustee in the firm that purchased the London properties that were the subject of the trial. The court, however, deemed the documents dated 2006 to be blatantly forged because the font they were typed in, Calibri, was not commercially available until 2007, over a year later.
On March 11, 2023, an audio tape supposedly showing Maryam Naraz was leaked, in which she suggested to her uncle, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, that the death of PTI worker Ali Bilal be portrayed as a car accident caused by PTI workers.
Early Life and Education
Maryam Sharif was born in Lahore, Pakistan, on October 28, 1973, to Nawaz Sharif and Kulsoom Butt.
She acquired her primary education at the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Lahore. Maryam wanted to get into Kinnaird College for her FSc, but the principal stated to her that her academic standing was insufficient and that there was a lengthy list of candidates better than her who would be preferred. When her father, Nawaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of Punjab at the time, learned of this, he ordered the principal’s suspension. However, she was reinstated following a strike by college students and staff.
Maryam later pursued a career as a doctor, enrolling in King Edward Medical College in the late 1980s; however, due to a scandal over improper admittance, she was forced to quit the college before obtaining her degree. She earned a master’s degree in literature after completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Punjab. She was working on her Ph.D. on post-9/11 radicalization in Pakistan in 2012.
In 2014 the Lahore High Court called her M.A. (English Literature) and Ph.D. in Political Science degrees into question. It was unclear if her Ph.D. was earned or honorary. While submitting records to the Election Commission of Pakistan in 2018, she merely declared her master’s degree in English Literature.
Personal Life
At the age of 19, she eloped with Safdar Awan and took her husband’s surname, Mariam Safdar. Safdar was a captain in the Pakistan Army at the time, and he was Nawaz Sharif’s security officer throughout his stint as Prime Minister of Pakistan. She and Safdar Awan have three children: one son, Junaid, and two daughters, Mahnoor and Mehr-un-Nisa.
Political Career
She stayed active in the family’s charity organisation before entering politics, serving as chairperson of Sharif Trust, Sharif Medical City, and Sharif Education Institutes.
Entry into Politics and Initial Engagements
In November 2011 Nawaz Sharif granted her permission to enter politics after she showed her desire to do so. She began touring educational institutions to offer speeches on education and women’s rights during her political debut. She tweeted in January 2012, “I’m only assisting Nawaz Sharif in monitoring their cyber cell.I have no plans to enter electoral or practical politics.” During the 2013 Pakistani general election, she was put as head of Nawaz Sharif’s election campaign, and she reportedly played a key role. She was seen as Nawaz Sharif’s “heir apparent” and the PML-N’s “presumed future leader”
Controversial Tenure as Chairperson of Prime Minister's Youth Programme
She was appointed head of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme in November 2013. Her selection, however, was called into doubt by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which dubbed it an instance of nepotism and petitioned the Lahore High Court in October 2014. PTI further accused her of exploiting government funds to boost her image. On 12 November 2014, the Lahore High Court ordered the federal government to remove her. The next day, Maryam resigned from the post of chairperson.
Entry into Active Politics Amidst Nawaz Sharif's Disqualification
She became politically active in 2017 when her father, Nawaz Sharif, was disqualified and convicted by Pakistan’s Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case for money laundering through employment in the UAE. During the NA-120 by-elections, she campaigned for her mother, Kulsoom Nawaz.
Political Disqualification in 2018 and Reversal in 2022
In June 2018, she was given a PML-N ticket to contest in the 2018 general election from NA-127 (Lahore-V) and PP-173. In July, she was sentenced to seven years in prison on corruption allegations brought by the National Accountability Bureau in the Avenfield case. As a result, she was barred from politics for ten years, and the PML-N nominated Ali Pervaiz and Malik Irfan Shafi Khokhar to run in the 2018 elections in NA-127 and PP-173, respectively. On September 29, 2022, shortly after Maryam’s uncle Shehbaz Sharif took power, the Islamabad High Court reversed her corruption sentence and refused to prosecute several of the proceedings against her family members, allowing her to run for office again.
Chaudhry Sugar Mills Corruption Case
On August 8, 2019, she was detained by the National Accountability Bureau Lahore on corruption charges related to Chaudhry Sugar Mills. The Lahore High Court granted her bail in November 2019 on the Chaudhry Sugar Mills Corruption accusations.
Leadership Shifts in Pakistan Muslim League (N)
Maryam Nawaz was appointed Senior Vice President of Pakistan Muslim League (N) on January 3, 2023. Shehbaz Sharif, the party’s president, approved the decision. She was also named “Chief Organiser” of the party, with the responsibility of restructuring and reorganising the party at all levels.
Recognition and International Accolades
She was named one of the BBC’s 100 Women in March 2017. In December 2017, she was named one of The New York Times’ 11 Most Powerful Women in the World for 2017.