Daily Times

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz Saturday ruled out the possibility of holding dialogue with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government on any issue.

While addressing a PML-N rally in Sialkot in connection with the upcoming NA-75 by-poll, the PML-N leader said that the opposition alliance will not hold any talks with the federal government ‘whatever the outcome might be’ in the Senate elections. “No chance of talks with the incumbent government. All parties under the banner of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) are united and have announced support for PML-N candidate in Sialkot by-poll,” she added.

Maryam Nawaz said that PDM will hold a long march towards Islamabad at any cost. “Caravans of long march will leave for Islamabad from across the country on March 26. Opposition parties and Nawaz Sharif will not give NRO to Imran Khan,” she said.

The PML-N leader said for the first time in history the people of Punjab have stood up for their rights and refused to bow down to ‘tyranny’. Maryam said PML-N stalwart Khawaja Asif belonging to Sialkot district was arrested because he refused to stop supporting the party supremo, Nawaz Sharif. “I endured hardships but never left Nawaz’s side,” she said. “Today people are missing tenure of Nawaz Sharif who ended [power] load shedding and terrorism from the country,” she said. “I am very upset that Shehbaz Sharif was taken away from the people of Punjab,” the teary-eyed Maryam said, adding that the people of the province are missing the rule of her uncle as Punjab’s chief minister.

Maryam Nawaz said the written order by the chief justice of Pakistan in which he said Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa should not hear cases involving Prime Minister Imran Khan “is not good for the credibility and respect of the judiciary”. “The whole system of justice and the respect of the judiciary is being risked to save an unqualified and incompetent person.” Responding to the question, Maryam said the development was completely different than the treatment meted out to her father, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif. “People can see the faces, the decisions and the differences between the remarks,” she said. “I understand that there have been historic attempts to break [the] PML-N […] the state and all institutions have been thrust against a party but […] the PML-N did not break apart,” Maryam said, adding that the reason behind this was the PML-N becoming an ‘ideological party’. “Every coming day is proving that Mian [Nawaz Sharif] sahab’s vision was right.”

She also reiterated that both the PDM and the PML-N wanted electoral reforms and real democracy but any legislation on this front could not be done with PM Imran at the helm.Earlier this month, the PPP had decided to withdraw its candidates from two seats of Punjab in the by-elections in favour of the PML-N candidates. The decision surfaced as a reciprocal of a ‘goodwill gesture’ of the PML-N which didn’t field its candidates for three provincial seats of the Sindh Assembly.