ISLAMABAD:
In 2021, when her party, the PML-N, was going through difficult times, with her father, Nawaz Sharif, and uncle, Shehbaz Sharif, behind bars, Maryam Nawaz highlighted the link between resistance and dialogue.
Maryam, who is now Punjab’s first chief minister, then said that “only if there is resistance will there be reconciliation.” He had positioned himself as a leading voice of resistance within his party.
“Power speaks to power. The powerful do not speak to the weak. The moment you show weakness, your enemy will hit you hard. You do not receive anything on a plate; you have to fight for your rights,” he reportedly said.
Maryam had apparently made these comments in response to calls from sections of her party urging her to soften her rhetoric and seek reconciliation.
That hardline approach adopted by Maryam and her father, Nawaz Sharif, was believed to have played a key role in persuading the powers that be at the time to collaborate with the PML-N and other opposition parties.
Fast forward to 2025, the same philosophy is now professed by a section of the PTI, which is having an even tougher time, with its founder Imran Khan in jail and the party struggling to find political ground for dialogue.
Following the conviction and sentencing of Imran Khan and his wife in the Toshakhana-II case, the former prime minister urged the nation to “prepare for a street movement”, declaring that “there is no alternative left” and that “the entire nation will have to stand up for its rights”.
The responsibility of mobilizing this movement now lies with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, whose mantra closely mirrors Maryam’s: reconciliation without resistance is not an option.
Before concluding his three-day visit to Lahore, Afridi said the PTI would use street protests to bring the government to the negotiating table.
“We will be lost if we engage in dialogue without resistance. Therefore, the protest movement will continue until the rulers come to the table after recognizing the opposition as an equal partner,” he said.
The strategy has inevitably drawn comparisons with the PML-N’s approach when it was on the receiving end of state pressure. However, PTI leaders reject such similarity.
Speaking to The Express PAkGazette, senior PTI leader and former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said that Maryam Nawaz’s fight cannot be compared with the PTI’s resistance.
“Maryam Nawaz is an uneducated woman and we do not accept her. She has no vision or ideal for us. We have our own narrative, our own strategy, and we believe that we are fighting for our rights and we will continue to do so,” he said.
Journalist Ihtishamul Haq agreed that the PTI seemed to be following the same model that Maryam adopted when the PML-N was in opposition. “There is no doubt that Imran Khan still enjoys a huge fan following. He is still popular but his party is in a weak position,” he said.
He added that the PTI followed a policy of resistance, but so far it has not yielded results. Ihtisham noted that the situation was different when the PML-N was in opposition, as the PTI now appears increasingly isolated.
“All institutions are against them (PTI). Most political parties are not in favor of them,” he said, adding that ultimately the PTI would have to find some space for itself through talks.
Journalist Sohail Warraich offered a more nuanced view of the contrast between the two. Speaking to The Express PAkGazette, he said that in a democracy, whenever there is a problem, the answer is more democracy.
“Likewise, if there is a problem with reconciliation, the solution is more reconciliation. Resistance, on the other hand, has to do with control of the State or its institutions. Since the State has a monopoly on violence, no political party or individual can fight it directly,” he added.
Commenting specifically on the PTI, Warraich said the party’s strategy currently revolves entirely around resistance, with no room for reconciliation.
He said that life offers two ways to deal with obstacles: offer resistance or explore alternatives. “The PTI, however, has not explored any alternative. Its street power has greatly diminished, and although its vote bank still exists, its impact is limited until elections are held.
“They need a strategy to organize their votes and their party structure. If they really want to agitate, they need to do it in an organized way.”
According to Warraich, the party has so far been unable to do so. In Punjab, he said, there is no effective organizational structure of the PTI. “Protests and processions are mainly taking place in KP, while nothing significant, not even a shock wave, is happening in Punjab,” he added.
While the PTI accepts resistance as a precondition for dialogue, the key question remains whether the public will respond to the party’s call for protests and, more importantly, whether the powerful sectors will change course towards the embattled PTI and its imprisoned leaders.
