Maryam Nawaz to spearhead campaign in NA-120 for her father

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief is contesting elections in May from NA-120 but this is his daughter Maryam Nawaz who has come forward to launch the party campaign with a bang in this constituency. Sources close to the PML-N leadership say that Maryam would spearhead the campaign in NA-120 while the party chief would be busy in country-wide campaign.

Maryam, along with her mother Kulsoom Nawaz and Humza Shahbaz, reached out at the heart of the constituency ahead of a party rally on Monday. She was surrounded by jubilant PML-N workers, mostly young party enthusiasts, when she opened up the party office near the main PostOfficeBuilding on the Lower Mall.

The party officials say that Maryam had been trained in the art of politics by her mother Kulsoom Nawaz but this would be her first exposure to the electoral politics. Kulsoom Nawaz is credited to keep the party alive after October 1999 military coup that led to the ousting of Sharif brothers and their self-exile in Saudi Arabia. Political analysts believe Maryam is the answer to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)’s Bilawal Bhutto who is leading PPP campaign and attracting youth, which is considered to be Imran Khan’s real domain.

Earlier, Maryam started her first political innings from the party’s Model Town Secretariat in a family car driven by Hamza Shahbaz. Hundreds of party enthusiasts were present to hail her outside the secretariat and they joined the caravan as it moved on. Several young men were driving their cars with loud music in the procession.

It is learned that PML-N election campaigns will be mostly headed by Sharif family members. Hamza would run the campaign for his father Shahbaz Sharif in the Punjab and address most of the rallies, as he did in the last by-elections, while Mian Nawaz Sharif would busy himself mainly in the nationwide campaigns.

Owing to the mismanagement on the inauguration of the new office in NA-120, it was hard for Maryam to formally deliver her speech. However, she told the reporters that it was only her father who could bring prosperity in the country. “It is high time that people come out and join us as we bring in reforms in the country.”

Several PML-N leaders, including Khawaja Saad Rafique and Malik Pervaiz, were present at the inaugural ceremony.