Nawaz Sharif chairs Punjab govt meets, stirs row

Lahore, March 19

Nawaz Sharif, the supreme leader of the PML-N, assumed a “de-facto” role of Punjab CM, a post officially held by his daughter Maryam Nawaz, and presided over three administrative meetings of the provincial government, raising many eyebrows.

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Maryam took over as the first woman CM of Pakistan’s Punjab province last month. However, her father Sharif, 74, assumed a “de-facto CM role” and issued directions to the authorities concerned and ministers regarding different projects in the province, which used to be the bastion of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

An official handout issued after the meeting said the three-time former prime minister issued directions to ministers and officials regarding different infrastructure projects, including the underground train and metro bus, farmers’ plight, electric bikes for students and Ramzan relief package. The veteran leader chairing the meetings raised many questions since he holds no official position.