Pakistan ex-PM Nawaz Sharif’s daughter becomes nation’s first woman to govern a province

Maryam Nawaz Sharif was elected chief minister in her family’s long-time power base of Punjab province, after Pakistan held national and provincial polls on February 8.

Her father – widely known as the “Lion of Punjab” – was prime minister three times, his last stint ending in 2017.

Her uncle Shehbaz, also a previous premier, looks set to rule again after the family’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party agreed to govern in coalition with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

The alliance also saw the PPP’s Punjab lawmakers back Maryam for the chief minister’s office, where she will preside over the province of 127 million Pakistanis – more than half the national populace.

Nawaz and Shehbaz flanked Maryam as she was sworn in.

Maryam said on Monday her appointment was “the making of history”.

“It is a victory for every woman, a triumph for every daughter and mother,” she told regional lawmakers after they elected her to the role.

“It is proof that being a woman and being a daughter cannot constrain your dreams.”

Nepotism and cronyism are entrenched in Pakistani politics, with family connections sometimes boosting elite daughters into power despite social conservatism shutting most women out.

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Women barred from voting in rural villages in Pakistan under tribal norms ahead of general elections

Benazir Bhutto became Pakistan’s first female leader in 1988, but the opportunity was credited to her lineage in the Bhutto dynasty which has historically rivalled the Sharifs, rather than social progress.

Only around a dozen women were elected to national office in this month’s elections. Most female lawmakers enter parliament in seats reserved for women and religious minorities.

Female politicians also face sexist criticism in patriarchal