Opposition stages walkout from assembly n Maryam secures 220 votes n Offers olive branch to Opposition in maiden speech n Says she does not believe in taking revenge n Vows to follow policies of Shehbaz to serve people n Outlines her vision to reposition Punjab as an economic hub n Pledges to implement free WiFi in major cities across Punjab.

LAHORE   -  Maryam Nawaz Sharif made history on Mon­day as she was sworn in as the first elected woman chief minister of Punjab after she got elected from the Punjab Assembly with majority vote amid opposition’s boycott of the chief min­ister’s election. 

Her rival, Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan of Sunni It­tehad Council (SIC) did not get any vote as the opposition opted to walk out boycotting the House proceedings for chief minister’s election. Mary­am secured 220 votes. 

Punjab Governor Muhammad Balighur Rehman administered the oath to Maryam Nawaz Sharif as Chief Minister of Punjab in a solemn ceremony at the Governor House Lahore. She has also earned the distinction of being the first ever elected wom­an chief executive of a province in the country. Chief Secretary Punjab Zahid Akhtar Zaman read out the notification of appointment.

The ceremony was attended by PML-N su­preme leader Muham­mad Nawaz Sharif, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, former Punjab chief minister Hamza Shehbaz, Senator Ishaq Dar, IG Punjab Dr Usman Anwar, US Consul Gen­eral Christine K Hawkins, Chi­nese Consul General in Lahore Zhao Shirin, Consul General of Turkey in Lahore Durmus Bas­tug, Consul General of Islam­ic Republic of Iran Mehran Mo­vahed far, Begum Governor of Punjab, Muslim League (N) leaders, officials, workers, pro­vincial assembly members and high officials.

Earlier, the Punjab Assembly witnessed some unruly scenes when the Speaker Mohammad Ahmad Khan did not allow the opposition leader and candidate for the chief minister’s slot Rana Aftab Ahmad to speak before the chief minister’s election. The speaker cited article- 130 of the Constitution which did not al­low the speaker to conduct any other business except the CM’s election on the designated day. He ruled that any word spoken by any assembly member on this day would not be made part of the Assembly proceedings. An­noyed by speaker’s ruling, the opposition left the Assembly chambers chanting slogans. 

Interestingly, Maryam Nawaz asked the speaker to bring back the opposition and allow them to speak their mind on the As­sembly floor. She also want­ed the opposition to be present in the House to take part in the CM’s election. In line with his ruling, the speaker ordered that Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s speech should not be made part of the Assembly proceedings. He, how­ever, constituted a six-member committee comprising members from the treasury benches to persuade the opposition mem­bers to return to the assembly chambers. However, the negoti­ations did not yield any results and the opposition continued with its boycott of the Assembly proceedings. 

The speaker later conduct­ed the election and declared Maryam Nawaz as the winner with 220 votes. He also invited her to take the seat of the lead­er of the house. With a photo­graph of her late mother Kul­soom Nawaz in front of her dais, she ascended to the chair of the leader of the house amidst chants of ‘Sher, Sher’.

Addressing the Punjab As­sembly after her election as the chief minister, Maryam Nawaz gave a message of reconciliation to the Opposition stressing that she did not believe in taking re­venge. She also said that doors of the chief minister’s office would be equally open for both the opposition and the treasury members. I am their sister and daughter too,” she said. Maryam expressed her commitment to represent all lawmakers across the political spectrum, asserting, “I am the chief minister of over 125 million people. I’ll be avail­able for my allies and opposition members for the issues of their constituencies.” 

Addressing the opposition, she said that they should have been part of the democratic process inside the Assembly. Reflecting on her own experiences, partic­ularly her time spent in prison, she remarked, “We also faced a really tough time but remained part of the process,”

She was grateful for the nom­ination by her father Nawaz Sharif and uncle Shehbaz Sharif and praised them for their con­tributions to the country.

Acknowledging the weight of her responsibility, Maryam highlighted her father’s and un­cle’s exceptional performance in the same role she now holds. She credited Nawaz Sharif for initiating his political journey from Punjab, becoming prime minister three times, and lead­ing the nation to nuclear capa­bility. She also mentioned her uncle Shehbaz Sharif’s tenure as CM three times, vowing to follow his policies to serve the people of the province.

Maryam outlined her plans and roadmap for Punjab, em­phasizing improvements in healthcare, education, and infra­structure. She pledged to leave behind a better Punjab after her five-year term.

Maryam noted that there were many expectations from her and vowed to go “above and be­yond”. She further said that her party had developed an “exten­sive and comprehensive” agenda for the province, which would be implemented from today.

Maryam emphasized that her top priority would be ensur­ing the presence of skilled doc­tors and essential equipment at basic health units, rural health centers, and tehsil headquar­ters hospitals. She stressed her vision for each district in the province to have a “state-of-the-art hospital,” minimizing the need for extensive travel for medical care. “When I leave of­fice in five years, I envision ev­ery district having such a hos­pital,” she declared, committing to achieve this goal.