LAHORE:
While Punjab Prime Minister Maryam Nawaz has made comparisons between the main adversary of Pakistan, the terrorists and the PTI, the largest political party in the country, the federal government has insisted that its offer of dialogue with the party remains on the table.
According to the lawyer of the State, Akeel Malik, the government’s priority was to stabilize the political ship, even while the divergent voices within the PML-N continue to understand the waters.
Although the PTI has seen its street muscle in the last two years, its ability to shake the PML-N government remains limited for now. However, a faction within the ruling party, apparently directed by Maryam Nawaz, seems unable to let the old PTI-Railing play book go, showing a tin ear to the psychology of voters.
As the recent past shows, political breach is a double -edged sword. During his time in power as Prime Minister, Imran Khan turned PML-N into his boxing bag in almost all speeches, but the implacable attacks often failed, extracting Flak even from his own base, who urged him to rise above the political meanness.
Maryam seems to have taken a page from Imran Khan’s book, keeping her weapons trained in the PTI. Even when the federal government seems to be making genuine efforts to reduce political temperature, PML-N leaders, including Maryam and the Minister of Defense, Khawaja Asif, continue to fueling the flames.
Recently, during a speech for students, Maryam drew parallels between terrorists, India and PTI. The comment shot online, and many misunderstood it as the CM PTI brand a threat greater than India or terrorism.
However, it is pertinent to observe that Maryam, in the past, has referred to Imran Khan as more dangerous than terrorism and coronavirus.
On the other hand, the federal government has left JAR’s door for dialogue despite PTI’s persistent negative to cross it.
Speaking to The Express PAkGazette, Barríster Akeel clarified that the main minister had spoken in a “specific context” during his speech.
However, he added that PTI had previously acted against the interests of the country more than once. “Which political party is against your own country by writing to the IMF, asking you to hold loans? And PTI has not shown remorse for what you have done,” he said.
“With regard to the government, our doors are still open to PTI,” he added. “The committee formed to interact with PTI remains intact. All PTI has to do is express its desire in the National Assembly. However, they do not believe in political dialogue, nor do they seem interested in solving anything.”
He denied any internal crack on the subject of PTI.
When asked about the contradictory positions of the Federal and Provincial Information Ministries, where the Federal Minister praised PTI’s social networks for promoting the country’s narrative, while Punjab Bukhari Azma accused him of undermining national interests, Akeel defended both positions.
He explained that, although the whole country had joined to combat misinformation on digital platforms, some activists from PTI social networks continued to circulate images generated by the political leaders of Troll.
The former spokesman for the Nawaz family, Muhammad Zubair, speaking with the Express PAkGazette, described the group led by Maryam Nawaz as the “hawks” of the party in relation to PTI, while Shehbaz Sharif, faithful to his temperament, represented the reconciliate faction.
He pointed out that the aggressive faction was deeply cautious with PTI’s lasting support base and tried to decisively neutralize the party. “It is a reality that, for Maryam Nawaz, Imran Khan is more a threat than Modi,” he said. “Shehbaz, on the contrary, is not a hard alineator.”
Zubair suggested that Maryam Nawaz should realize that PTI, in his current form, was not so powerful. “Why keep calling them? If the country can reach a high fire with India, why not with a political rival?” asked.
“If I were Maryam’s advisor, I would tell him to be indifferent to PTI.”
