ISLAMABAD: The appointment of Maryam Nawaz as Chairperson of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme symbolises her further grooming in the statecraft, and she may be ultimately inducted in the parliament in a direct or indirect election.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision to let his daughter run his key programme reflects his preference to get a leading role for her while keeping his two sons, Hussain and Hassan, preoccupied in business in Britain and Saudi Arabia respectively.
From day one, he has kept his sons away from politics. The duo is also not known to have demonstrated any interest in this murky field.
They have not been seen flanking their father whether he is in government or in opposition except for a brief period when the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won the May elections and he was elected prime minister.
The PML-N chief declared some time back that Hamza, son of his brother Shahbaz Sharif, was his political successor. Hamza recently got a key role in running the official affairs in Punjab.
By virtue of this position, he remains in close touch with the federal and provincial legislators of the PML-N.
Nawaz Sharif had in the past many opportunities, which are not in dearth even now, to get Maryam elected as a member of the National Assembly or the Punjab Assembly, but he didn?t for his own reasons.
However, she contributed a lot to PML-N’s campaign for the last parliamentary polls when the ‘youth bulge’ tremendously mobilised by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was going to play a major role. She presented herself as a representative of the youth and a campaigner for the PML-N.
Maryam is an active Tweet user and frequently and sharply responds when it is essential not to ignore certain messages about the prime minister, her family or the government. Internews
