Maryam Nawaz sworn in first woman Chief Minister of Punjab

Lahore: Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday took the oath as the Chief Minister of Punjab during a grand but solemn ceremony at the sprawling lawns of the Governor’s House here.

Governor Punjab Muhammad Balighur Rehman administered the oath to Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif who became the first-ever elected woman chief executive of a province in the country. Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Zaman read the orders of the appointment.

On this historic occasion of a woman taking over reins as Chief Minister, Maryam Nawaz Sharif was flanked by her father and Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) Quaid Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and uncle Prime Minister-designate Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif while she also placed a photo of her late mother Kalsoom Nawaz Sharif in front of her on the occasion. Instead of the traditional Darbar Hall, the oath-taking was held at the lawns of the Governor’s House to make room for more guests to watch their popular leader making history.

The ceremony started with recitation of verses from the holy Quran followed by Naat e Rasool e Maqbool Khatam un Nabiyeen Muhammad (P.B.U.H.).

The ceremony was attended by a large number of diplomats, Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leadership, MNAs, MPAs, representatives of the armed forces, government functionaries including the Chief Secretary Punjab Zahid Zaman, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab Dr. Usman Anwer, lawyers, senior journalists, anchors, and a large number of party workers.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s family including her husband Capt, (Retd) Safdar, son Junaid Safdar, daughters and grand-daughters were present on the occasion. Former Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz Sharif and Salman Shehbaz were also present.

The U.S. Consul General in Lahore Kristin Hawkins, Chinese Consul General Zhao Shiren, Turkiye Consul General in Lahore Durmus Bastug and Iranian Consul General in Lahore Mehran Movahed were among the distinguished guests.

Conspicuous among the party leaders were Ishaq Dar, Ahsan Iqbal, Talal Chaudhry, Amir Muqam, Attaullah Tarar, Rana Sanaullah Khan, Pervaiz Rasheed, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Ayaz Sadiq, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Rohail Asghar, Khurram Dastgir Khan, and Mian Javed Latif.