Maryam Nawaz, Punjab’s chief minister nominee of Pakistan Muslim League-N, on Wednesday pledged to serve the province in a way that will “set records” of good governance in the country.
Revealing her game plan for Punjab in a media talk after PML-N’s parliamentary party meeting, the CM-hopeful said: “A new era will usher in Punjab. I congratulate the PML-N for securing victory [and gaining a majority in the Punjab Assembly].”
If voted into power, Maryam will become the first woman to be elected as a chief minister in Pakistan’s seven-decade-plus history. She will take over the province with a population of more than 127 million people, more than half of Pakistan’s population.
Maryam said: “A new era will usher in Punjab. I congratulate the PML-N for securing victory [and gaining a majority in the Punjab Assembly].”
“This was a tough election, I thank the people of Punjab for providing us with a clear majority. We will set records of service; I haven’t rested since the election results, all of us will have to work as a team,” she added.
Maryam said it was a “huge honour” for her to be nominated as Punjab’s first chief minister and dedicated it to the “daughters, mothers, sisters, and reserved seats’ women”.
Maryam told the newly-elected MPAs that they would have to view Punjab’s 297 constituencies as 297 districts in order to ensure development in every lawmaker’s constituency.
“I have worked on the Safe Punjab Programme; we’ll have to expand the Safe City Project to all cities. To improve the environment of police stations for women, we will be making model women police stations,” she said.
Lamenting that there’s no IT city across the country, she vowed to establish five of them across the province.
“We will also deliver marriage, death, and car certificates to people’s homes,” she said, adding that her government would also grant interest-free loans to the youth. “We’ll redesign health cards and ensure treatment at private and public hospitals.”
“We will make one hundred thousand houses for the poor, provide interest-free loans to the youth and merit-based scholarships to young students to study abroad,” she added
Earlier, PML-N Parliamentarian board reaffirmed the nomination of party’s Senior Vice-President Maryam Nawaz for the office of Punjab Chief Minister.
The board also agreed to nominate Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman for the slot of Punjab Assembly speaker.
The sources said that the newly elected members also took part in the meeting. “As many as 218 members participated in the meeting,” sources added.
Addressing the meeting shre said, “I’m committed to the people of the province to fulfil their expectations while carrying out my responsibilities as the Punjab chief minister,” said Maryam.
Regarding the governance of Punjab, she outlined the party’s priorities at both the government and party levels, emphasizing that the Members of Provincial Assembly would serve as her pillars of strength.
“The elected party leaders are my power,” said Maryam Nawaz.
