Maryam faces backlash over luxury aircraft
Pakistan Punjab’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has come under severe criticism over her Government’s acquisition of a luxurious aircraft worth PKR 11.7 billion for her personal use. The Punjab Government has acquired a new, 2019-manufactured Gulfstream GVII-G500 aircraft for their VIP transport role, says the Stratcom Bureau. It says the approximate price for the aircraft is around USD 42 million (PKR 11.7 billion). Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said the Maryam Nawaz administration has acquired the 19-seater VIP jet as part of the proposed “Air Punjab” fleet.
The Opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jammat-i-Islami lambasted Maryam Nawaz, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, for using public money for her own luxurious lifestyle. “The TikToker chief minister of Punjab has purchased an aircraft at a cost of PKR 11,000 crore while Pakistan’s entire national airline — PIA — was sold for just PKR 10 billion,” PTI senior leader and former federal minister Moonis Elahi said. “In Punjab, a province of 130 million, where people cannot even afford basic necessities such as food, clean water, or medical treatment, and where funds are lacking even for sewer covers — PKR 11 billion of public money spent on a single aircraft for the CM who should be ashamed of herself for mercilessly wasting the public money for her own good,” he said.
Moonis questioned whether a nation facing economic difficulties, with 45 per cent of the people living below the poverty line and record unemployment, could afford this luxury. “The Sharif family is a certified looter and this act of Maryam Nawaz shows that they are here to only rule and loot and have nothing to do for the welfare of the people whose mandate this super elite have stolen in the last (2024) elections,” he said. Jammat-i-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman lambasted Maryam Nawaz for purchasing a costly and luxurious aircraft for her personal use at a time when the province is witnessing a sharp rise in child malnutrition, poverty and social distress.
“On one hand, Punjab is facing a frightening surge in malnutrition among children and women, while on the other, a luxury aircraft worth over PKR 10 billion has been bought for the chief minister,” he said and also criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for selling Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) at a throwaway price. While the prime minister celebrated the move, his niece, CM Maryam, went ahead and purchased a luxury aircraft for elite travel, he added. “Yet, there is no reduction in the privileges and extravagant lifestyle of the ruling elite,” he said.
Former federal finance minister of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Miftah Ismail said: “So while Pakistanis are supposed to tighten belts and sacrifice, Punjab’s entitled VIPs are fastening their seatbelts for taking off in luxury private jets.” Senior journalist Mehr Bokhari said when Governments begin to spend like multinational corporations, citizens are right to ask: “who is the state really serving?” “Punjab’s acquisition of a luxury Gulfstream jet is not just questionable, it is a symbol of how detached governance has become from economic reality,” she said.
