The party, founded by Nawaz Sharif in 1993, has its roots in the original Muslim League workers that played a key role in the creation of Pakistan in 1947. The PML-N has been a strong contender in the political arena of Pakistan and continues to be one today. However, since the ouster of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the party has been through tough times and lost many of its electable candidates and vote bank, but to no avail, as the people have always been more inclined towards Nawaz Sharif. With Shehbaz taking the office of prime minister, the party is doing fine at the grassroots level, under the able leadership of Maryam Nawaz.
The senior vice president of the PML-N, Maryam Nawaz Sharif has been trying to reorganize the party since her return from the UK. The heir apparent of the three times former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was recently made the senior vice president and chief organizer of the party. This is a timely decision as the party needs reorganization across Pakistan. For the first time, the party is undergoing a major overhaul. Her recent trips to different parts of the country shows that Maryam Nawaz Sharif has managed to keep the cohesion of the party intact, in collaboration with senior party leaders.
Due to the poor economic policies of the previous government, Pakistan is currently in a crisis situation, which is being blamed on the PML-N and its policies. In this scenario, people are skeptical about voting for the party in the next general election. The party itself has also faced some issues due to changing leadership, and unless the internal machinery of the party is fixed, its constituents are unlikely to offer it support during the elections.
When Maryam Nawaz Sharif entered politics and became the face of the PML-N, the party awoke to her call and workers were mobilized. In the coming days, the Maryam Nawaz-Hamza Shehbaz duo will turn the tables. Maryam Nawaz inspires the workers, while Hamza, an equally popular leader among workers, knows the difference between good and bad candidates, and can guide the party to pick the best candidates for elections. While Maryam is the heir apparent to Nawaz Sharif, Hamza has built himself a place with a strong foundation, and he is an integral part of the decision-making process.
To strengthen the party, the top leadership has been holding workers' conventions to mobilize the force for the upcoming general elections. The PML-N was one of the two major players in politics until PTI came about. The current PDM has left the PML-N dwindled, and the foundations of the party seem weak. However, tough times will become a thing of the past soon enough. Maryam Nawaz, along with her cousin and senior leaders such as Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, has managed to form a consensus within the structure of the PML-N.
The need for cohesion within the party exists because unless and until the Sharif house is in order, the party cannot mobilize its workers to get as many votes as possible. The heir apparent of the party supremo Nawaz Sharif has been an active member of the party for a few years now. With her father being in London due to health reasons, it was Maryam who carried out the necessary actions needed at the time when the PDM was formed. She held rallies and traveled across Pakistan to garner support for her party. It is often thought that Maryam is not capable of leading the party into the next general election as she does not have much political experience but as history has shown she has held quite a few successful rallies against the PTI government. It was her mobilization of workers at various venues and her appearances in the media that kept the party afloat.
In order to keep the party workers content, she has also held several workers’ conventions since the first of February. According to the PML-N spokesperson Maryum Aurangzeb, the senior vice president will hold workers’ conventions all around the major cities of Pakistan in the month of February. Here she plans on meeting workers and designing strategies with them that will lead to the victory of the party in the next general election.
According to current statistics, the PML-N is once again gaining momentum and is likely to become the most popular party in the upcoming elections. The devastation caused by the previous government can be seen by the people, and with constant reminders by Maryam Nawaz during the PML-N’s time in government, people have begun to see which party is more representative of the population and has the better governance policies.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s vision for the party and her way to deal with conflicts is a clear indicator of her qualities as a leader. While many treat her kindly due to her status of being the party supremo's daughter, she is an enigma in herself. The way she has handled conflicts within the party and dealt with the speculation regarding rifts within the family shows that she is a true politician who can handle anything thrown at her. The dynamic that she has with Hamza Shehbaz and other senior leaders of the party shows that she respects their positions and is ready to give them their due rights, but she is also capable enough to carve her own space and make a name for herself. Maryam's diplomacy and true leadership has kept the party together in times of crisis and she, along with senior party members, will take PML-N to new heights.