ISLAMABAD:
In 2021, while her party, the PML-N, was going through a difficult period, with her father, Nawaz Sharif, and her uncle, Shehbaz Sharif, behind bars, Maryam Nawaz highlighted the link between resistance and dialogue.
Maryam, who is now the first woman chief minister of Punjab, had then said that “only if there is resistance will there be reconciliation”. She has positioned herself as one of the main voices of resistance within her party.
“Power speaks to power. The powerful do not speak to the weak. The moment you show weakness, your enemy hits you hard. You don’t get anything on a platter, you have to fight for your rights,” she was quoted as saying.
Maryam had apparently made the remarks in response to calls from sections of her party urging her to soften her rhetoric and pursue reconciliation.
This tough approach adopted by Maryam and her father, Nawaz Sharif, is said to have played a key role in persuading the powers that be of the time to engage with the PML-N and other opposition parties.
Fast forward to 2025, and the same philosophy is now professed by a section of the PTI, which is going through an even more difficult time, with its founder Imran Khan in jail and the party struggling to find political ground for dialogue.
Following the conviction 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 left alternative” and that “the entire nation will have to stand up for their rights”.
The responsibility for mobilizing this movement now falls on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, whose mantra closely mirrors that of Maryam: 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 start a dialogue without resistance. So, the protest movement will continue until the leaders come to the table after recognizing the opposition as an equal partner,” he said.
This strategy inevitably drew comparisons with the PML-N’s approach when it was under state pressure. However, PTI leaders reject such similarity.
Speaking to The Express PK Press Club, senior PTI leader and former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said Maryam Nawaz’s struggle could not 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 will continue to do so,” he said.
Senior journalist Ihtishamul Haq agreed that the PTI seemed to be following the same model adopted by Maryam when the PML-N was in opposition. “There is no doubt that Imran Khan still enjoys a strong following. He remains popular, but his party is on a weak base,” he said.
He added that the PTI has indeed pursued a policy of resistance, but it has so far failed to produce results. Ihtisham noted that the situation was different when the PML-N was in opposition, with the PTI now appearing increasingly isolated.
“All institutions are against them (PTI). Most political parties are not in their favor,” he said, adding that ultimately the PTI should find space for itself through negotiations.
Journalist Sohail Warraich offered a more nuanced view of the contrast between the two. Speaking to The Express PK Press Club, he said that in a democracy, whenever there is a problem, the answer is more democracy.
“Similarly, if there is a problem of reconciliation, the solution is more reconciliation. Resistance, on the other hand, is about controlling the state or its institutions. Since the state has a monopoly on violence, no political party or individual can combat it directly,” he added.
Commenting specifically on the PTI, Warraich said the party’s strategy currently revolves entirely around resistance, without any possibility of reconciliation.
He said that life offers two ways to overcome obstacles: offering resistance or exploring alternatives. “The PTI, however, has not explored any alternatives. Its street power has largely diminished, and while 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, it needs to be done in an organized way.”
According to Warraich, the party has not succeeded in this so far. In Punjab, he said, there is no effective organizational structure of PTI. “The rallies and processions are taking place mainly in KP, while in Punjab, nothing major is happening, not even a wave,” he added.
While the PTI sees resistance as a prerequisite for dialogue, the key question remains whether public opinion will respond to the party’s call to protest and, more importantly, whether powerful circles will change course in favor of the embattled PTI and its imprisoned leaders.
