Maryam to take part in 2018 General Election: sources

Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former premier Nawaz Sharif, has decided to take part in the next General Election, media reported on Friday, citing sources in the PML- N.

She is set to contest the election from the NA120 constituency in Lahore, where her father was elected in the 2013 polls, the source claimed.

She may also campaign for the provincial assembly from the PP- 140 seat, according to the source.

Maryam, however, has yet to confirm or deny the reports of her running in the upcoming elections.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif, 44, was born in Lahore on Oct 28, 1973. She claims to have taken an interest in politics since the 1999 coup that sent her family into exile. However, in interviews since then, she has claimed to be more interested in the world of politics and power that lies beyond the assemblies.

The former premier's daughter has been in the spotlight facing corruption references since the Panama Papers were released in April 2016. The leaks described her as "the owner of British Virgin Islands- based firms Nielsen Enterprises Limited and Nescoll Limited, incorporated in 1994 and 1993".

Maryam was also believed to be among those within the PML- N at the centre of the Dawn leaks controversy. However, the then information minister, Pervez Rashid, was sacked for his alleged involvement in the leaks.

Last year, she campaigned for her mother, Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, during the NA- 120 by- poll following her father's disqualification from public office by the Supreme Court. Since Nawaz Sharif's ouster, she has taken a more active and visible role in party politics.

Maryam, who also actively campaigned in NA- 120 for her father during the 2013 election, has faced criticism from senior politicians who say she has never held a position within a political party and lacks the experience necessary to contest the General Election or become an elected leader.

However, it is Maryam who has been singled out by political analysts as a successor to her father and uncle Shahbaz Sharif's legacy within the PML- N ? not her brothers or cousin Hamza Shahbaz.