Graft report threatens Maryam’s political career
islamabad — A damning judicial report into the family wealth of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif threatens not just his premiership, but has also imperilled the political career of his daughter and heir apparent.
Maryam Nawaz, 43, has in recent years gained greater influence within Sharif’s inner circle, and is credited with steering him to embrace more pro-women and liberal causes in a deeply conservative nation of 200 million people.
Her feisty social media persona and combative tweets in defence of her father have often pitted her against Sharif’s rivals. Now those opponents sense an opportunity to scupper any plans to build a Sharif dynasty around her after the Supreme Court-appointed panel accused her of committing a criminal offence in a 254-page report.
“It nips her career in the bud,” Sherry Rehman, vice president of the opposition Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), said. “It does kill any aspirations for the dynasty — through her at any rate.”
Maryam “rejected” the report and tweeted to her 3.5 million followers that “every contradiction will not only be contested but decimated” in the Supreme Court.
She did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Maryam and her brothers were named last year in the Panama Papers leak as owners of offshore companies used to buy luxury flats in London, prompting opposition politician Imran Khan to threaten mass protests unless the Supreme Court investigated.
Khan, a former cricket star who leads Pakistan’s third party, has been one of her harshest critics and recently called her a “princess”, tapping into opposition anger that she appears to wield power within the government without holding any office.
Maryam’s allies say the opposition targets her because she poses a threat: a telegenic young politician who will boost the Sharif “brand” and prolong the family’s rule.
Dynastic politics have a long tradition in Pakistan.
Maryam rose to prominence in politics when she helped manage her father’s re-election campaign in 2013, courting the youth vote that Khan was connecting with in ever-greater numbers. —