Muhammad Safdar Awan

Muhammad Safdar Awan is a Pakistani politician and retired Pakistan Army officer who had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from June 2008 to May 2018. Awan married Maryam Nawaz in 1992 while he was serving as captain in Pakistan Army and had been the ADC to Nawaz Sharif during the latter's tenure as Prime Minister of Pakistan. After retiring from Pakistan Army as captain he joined the civil services, and was posted as Lahore Model Town assistant commissioner. Safdar joined politics after returning to Pakistan in 2007 along with the Sharif family. Awan was elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) from Constituency NA-52 (Rawalpindi-III) in by-election held in June 2008. In 2011, Awan was made the chief organiser of the PML-N Youth Wing. In 2012, Awan was suspended from PML-N for verbally abusing leaders of PML-N. Awan was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-21 (Mansehra-cum-Tor Ghar) in 2013 Pakistani general election. He received 91,013 votes and a candidate of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F). In May 2016, Awan was reported to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by Imran Khan for concealing Maryam Nawaz assets. Safdar denied that however was summoned by ECP in June 2016. In June 2018, he was allocated PML-N ticket to contest the 2018 general election from Constituency NA-14 (Mansehra-cum-Torghar). In July 2018, he was sentenced to one-year jail term in Avenfield corruption reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau. As a result, he was disqualified from contesting election for 10 years. The next day, he arrived in Rawalpindi and surrendered to authorities. In September 2018, He was released on bail over Avenfield corruption charges. On 19 October 2020, Capt. Safdar was arrested from Karachi hotel for 'violating sanctity of Quaid's mausoleum' and was released on bail the same day.