ISLAMABAD: A damning judicial report into the family wealth of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif threatens not just his premiership, but has also imperilled the political career of his daughter and heir apparent.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif, 43, (pictured) 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 a Supreme Court-appointed panel accused her of committing a criminal offence in a 254-page report leaked to the media this week.
“It nips her career in the bud,” Sherry Rehman, vice president of the opposition Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), said.
The Joint Investigations Team (JIT) set up by the court alleges the Sharif family’s wealth does not match their income, and accused Maryam and her brothers of signing forged documents to obscure ownership of offshore companies used to buy posh London flats. Maryam, also known as Maryam Safdar, “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. Her 67-year-old father, serving a third stint as prime minister, faces widespread calls to resign but his allies say the report is biased and inaccurate.
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.
Though she does not hold an official position within the government, members of the ruling PML-N party say she was instrumental in implementing a health programme offering free medical care for the poor at government hospitals, a loan scheme for youths, and the upgrading of primary schools in Islamabad. One source said Maryam influenced Sharif to push ahead with a bill to tackle ‘honour killings’ — the killing by relatives of women thought to have brought shame on their families — that was opposed by many elements of his conservative voter base. The bill was delayed for years and to muster wider support for its passage Maryam helped organise a screening at Prime Minister’s House of a grim Oscar-winning documentary, “Girl in the River”, about an attempted honour killing in Pakistan.
The Sharifs are disputing the allegations in the JIT report, but Maryam may face an investigation by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).The senior government source said NAB investigations tend to last many years —Sharif has an active case against him dating back to 1999 — and NAB’s conviction rates were notoriously low. “This is not the end for Maryam,” he said. “Not even close.” — Agencies
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