Daily Times

As Maryam Nawaz Sharif returns to the political front, veteran Nawaz League leader known for his closeness to the security establishment says she may steer the party but all important decisions will be taken by her father Nawaz Sharif himself.

“The option is available to have Maryam Nawaz take the party forward. Whenever she is ready, she can join the ranks of the party,” said Raja Zafarul Haq, leader of the opposition in the Senate, in a TV interview at Geo News.

The statement comes in the wake of elder Sharif’s imprisonment for a seven-year term in Al-Azizia reference. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to 10 years in prison by an accountability court in July last year. In the same ruling, the Supreme Court ousted and disqualified Sharif and barred him from holding political office in the future. In February this, the PML-N elected Sharif as its quaid (leader) for life, while his younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, was voted in as the president. Now with both brothers behind bars in what the party says are politically motivated cases, the PML-N faces a leadership crisis of sorts. In this backdrop, Maryam Nawaz has returned to the political front with a recent tweet remember her deceased mother and applauding her father’s efforts for democracy in the country. In the interview, Zafarul Haq said Maryam Nawaz could steer the party forward, but all internal decisions will be taken by the elder Sharif himself.

Published in Daily Times, December 27^th 2018.