AFTER the results of the February 8, 2024 election, PML-N realized that forming a strong central government would require a coalition with the establishment and other political parties.
Consequently, they nominated Shehbaz Sharif as Prime Minister, recognizing him as the most malleable candidate to manage the coalition while maintaining the support of key stakeholders.
The next crucial decision was selecting a candidate for the Chief Ministership of Punjab, as regaining political ground in the province, which had been PML-N’s stronghold for the past three decades, became paramount.
The strategy for Punjab was central to countering the growing influence of Imran Khan, whose political impact had significantly shifted Pakistan’s political landscape in recent years.
A serious blow to PML-N’s popularity came when it agreed to lead the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government, resulting in the unpopular decision to comply with the IMF’s conditions to avoid a default.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan effectively spread the narrative that PDM leaders, in collusion with the establishment and foreign powers, had orchestrated the no-confidence motion against PTI.
As a result, PTI gained public support, while PML-N lost political capital to prevent Pakistan’s default.
In this context, Maryam Nawaz, daughter of three-time Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, was nominated for the challenging and coveted role of Chief Minister of Punjab.
As the most charismatic leader and major crowd-puller after her father, she faces the daunting task of regaining the vote bank lost to PTI.
So far, she has made significant strides, launching numerous projects with a focus on youth, environment, women, health and education.
Recently CM Maryam Nawaz made whirl-wide tour to educational institutions all over Punjab.
In these tours she tried to connect with Punjab’s youth she also gave generous scholarship to the students.
In my opinion these visits seemed successful, as the youth especially the girls showed a lot of emotional connection with the first female CM of Punjab.
The youth seemed to be generally wooed by the sincerity and empathy shown by Maryam Nawaz.
The fact that PML-N has also found a very good public speaker in the affable Chief Minister seems to be a great achievement also.
It may still be too early to say if the youth which had become Imran Khan’s main strength, would be won over by Maryam Nawaz.
During her first year as Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has taken some appreciable steps like, clean Punjab, focus on youth, environment, education, health, transport, removing encroachments across the cities of Punjab.
All these efforts have helped the party stage some sort of a comeback, although her critics accuse her of being fonder of self-projection rather than launching serious welfare projects.
But compared to the very poor performance of Usman Buzdar, Maryam Nawaz comes out at the front by miles.
The PML-N at the moment is taking a sigh of relief and seems to be quite satisfied with her performance.
Maryam Nawaz’s government faces significant challenges, including providing jobs for the youth, attracting private investment, and improving the purchasing power of the masses, who have been hit hard by unprecedented price hikes.
According to World Bank data, poverty in Pakistan has increased due to factors like a tough microeconomic environment, national disasters, and a declining labor market.
In 2024, the lower middle-class poverty rate in Pakistan is estimated at 40.5%, meaning about 13 million people live in poverty—a 7% rise from 2023.
The Imran Khan factor, historic price hike, rising terrorist attacks, failure to attract foreign investment and image of the government being totally subservient to the establishment, are key elements which have increased discontent in the masses against the government.
In the opinion of this scribe Maryam Nawaz is no doubt the best candidate available to the PML-N to lead it forward in the future.
Her charisma, fearlessness and grit are a valuable asset for the party.
The empathy and sensitivity that she shows when meeting women especially of the lower strata is quite commendable.
Her natural concern and sympathy for the masses is getting a lot of traction amongst the masses.
But Maryam Nawaz, in spite of her good efforts, will only be able to deliver once the country’s overall economic conditions start improving.
Maryam may have been able to win back the support of some disgruntled PML-N voters or the backing of swing voters, who either stayed at home or voted for PTI.
However, the PML-N has to work very hard to counter the deep political convictions of the youth inclined towards the PTI.
Certain areas, such as health and human resource development, which were not a forte of PML-N, have been given significant priority by Maryam Nawaz.
However, some policies, like the Punjab government’s agriculture policy, need to be reviewed.
While agriculture subsidies must be cut under IMF conditions, completely discontinuing the minimum support price for farmers may discourage them and act as a disincentive to cultivating more wheat.
Similarly, pursuing mega projects like an underground train system may not be feasible in the current economic climate, where growth is stagnant, and repaying huge loans for such projects would be difficult.
Taking all these factors into account, however, the charismatic and energetic leader Maryam Nawaz remains PML-N’s best bet to lead the party into the next election and beyond.
—The writer, based in Islamabad, is a former Health Minister of KP. (marwat.akbarjan@gmail.com)
