Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari family members attend a ceremony after Mr. Zardari became the first Pakistani to be elected as Pakistan’s President for the second time. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Zardaris have overtaken the Sharifs to hold the record for having the most number of lawmakers from a family in Pakistani politics after President Asif Ali Zardari and slain former premier Benazir Bhutto’s youngest daughter Aseefa was elected unopposed as a member of Parliament.

Ms. Aseefa Bhutto Zardari (31), who is set to become the First Lady, had filed a nomination for the National Assembly seat NA-207 from the Shaheed Benazirabad (formerly Nawabshah) area of Sindh province for the bye-election scheduled for next month.

According to a notification issued by the Returning Office of the area, Ms. Bhutto Zardari was elected unopposed after three candidates who had filed papers against her withdrew their names from the contest. It left her with no challenger and she was declared a winner in her maiden electoral contest on March 29. The seat was vacated by her father Asif Ali Zardari after he was elected as the president.

Ms. Bhutto Zardari holds a bachelor’s degree in politics and sociology and a master’s in global health and development. She served as a goodwill ambassador for the polio eradication campaign in 2012.

With her victory, the Zardari family has six lawmakers at the national and provincial levels. Mr. Zardari is the country’s president, his daughter Aseefa, son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and brother-in-law Munawar Ali Talpur are Members of the National Assembly. Mr. Zardari’s sisters Faryal Talpur and Azra Pechuho are members of the provincial assembly in Sindh.

The Zardari family has the most number of legislators from a single family, breaking the record set by the Sharif family.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s elder brother Nawaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz Sharif have been elected MNAs. Maryam Nawaz Sharif is the chief minister of Punjab.

Both political families are very influential and have dominated Pakistani politics for decades.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the 50-year-old senior vice president of the PML-N, is set to become the first woman Chief Minister of Punjab province. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Senior PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on February 25 submitted her nomination papers for the post of Chief Minister of Pakistan’s politically crucial Punjab province.

“The nomination papers of Maryam Nawaz Sharif for the Chief Minister of Punjab have been submitted,” the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said in a post on X.

Ms. Maryam, the 50-year-old senior vice president of the PML-N, is set to become the first woman Chief Minister of Punjab province, a province of over 120 million people, as she enjoys the support of the majority in the house.

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She has already been given security usually provided to the Chief Minister and she is holding meetings with the top bureaucracy of the province.

She is considered to be the political heir of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, who surprisingly nominated his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif as his party’s prime ministerial candidate.

“The election of Chief Minister Punjab will take place on Monday (tomorrow). The candidates of CM can submit nomination papers on Sunday (today),” Punjab Assembly Secretary Amer Habib said in a statement on February 25.

Meanwhile, the PML-N clinched both Speaker and Deputy Speaker offices in the Punjab Assembly.

In a marathon session of the Punjab Assembly on February 24, the lawmakers elected PML-N leader Malik Ahmad Khan as the custodian of the house and Zaheer Iqbal Channar as his deputy.

The election for the Chief Minister office will be held between Ms. Maryam and Rana Aftab Ahmad of Imran Khan’s PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) nominee.

Also Read: Asif Ali Zardari | Return of the survivor

The PML-N won 137 seats while independents backed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 113 in the Punjab Assembly. Separately, 20-odd independents, not PTI-backed, have already joined the PML-N.

The PTI-backed independent candidates have joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) to get reserved seats for women and minorities besides saving their elected members from being forced to change their loyalty by the military establishment.

However, the SIC may not get reserved seats for women and minorities, leaving the PML-N with a simple majority in Punjab.