PM’s daughter says she tried her best to keep programme free of corruption, hopes it will continue in the same manner
Maryam Nawaz, daughter of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on Wednesday announced to step down from the office of chairperson Prime Minister’s Youth Loan Scheme.
In a statement, Maryam said she had voluntarily decided to quit as the head of the programme of which she was the honorary chairperson.
“I made an utmost effort to ensure the programme remains free of corruption of even a single penny,” she said, adding that positions don’t matter and vowed to continue serving the masses.
She hoped that the PM’s Youth Programme would continue positively as it did till her last day in office.
Sources said that Maryam’s resignation has been delivered to the Prime Minister’s Office.
On Tuesday, the Lahore High Court had given the federal government an opportunity to replace Maryam Nawaz with another individual as chairperson of the Prime Minister Youth Loan Scheme.
“The chairperson has to be changed,” Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah observed during the hearing of a petition filed by Zubair Niazi, a local leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, against the appointment.
The judge, however, said the court was showing grace by giving a chance to the government to change the chairperson in a lawful and transparent manner.
During the hearing, deputy attorney general Amir Rehman presented academic credentials of Maryam, but withdrew them after failing to answer a query whether the PhD degree was actual or honorary. He said the details presented before the court were collected from the internet.
Justice Shah also expressed wonder over the combination of degrees – MA (English Literature) and PhD in Political Science – earned by Maryam Nawaz.
Defending the impugned appointment, the deputy attorney general argued that the office of the chairperson was not a public office but a sort of focal person. He said holding of the chairperson’s post by Maryam Nawaz did not affect the disbursement of funds.
The judge asked the law officer whether a cook could be appointed as focal person in the name of prerogative. The court also rejected the argument that appointment of foreign ambassadors was also an example of the prime minister’s prerogative and observed that public money was involved in the instant case.
Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel argued that the appointment of Maryam Nawaz was a case of sheer nepotism. He said the appointment had been made in violation of law and several judgments passed by the Supreme Court. He said neither a public notice nor an advertisement was issued before the appointment.
The counsel requested the court to set aside the impugned appointment and pass a detailed judgment on the matter.
Go Nawaz Go
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