Lahore:
While the chief minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz, made comparisons between the chief opponent of Pakistan, the terrorists and the PTI – the largest political party in the country – the federal government insisted that its offer of dialogue with the party remains on the table.
According to the Minister of State, lawyer Akeel Malik, the government’s priority was to stabilize the political ship, even if divergent votes within the PML-N continue to complete the waters.
Although the PTI has seen its street muscle decrease in the past two years, its ability to trace the PML-N government is limited for the moment. However, a faction within the ruling party, apparently led by Maryam Nawaz, seems incapable of letting go of the old Pti-Bashing game book, showing a tin ear to the psychology of voters.
As the recent past shows, political mud is a double -edged sword. During his stay at the Power as Prime Minister, Imran Khan made PML-N his bag of punching in almost all the speeches, but the incessant attacks often turned against him, attracting the Flak of his own base, which exhorted him to rise above political meanness.
Maryam seems to have withdrawn a page from Imran Khan’s book, keeping her firearms trained on the PTI. Even when the federal government seems to make real efforts to reduce political temperature, PML-N leaders, including Maryam and the Minister of Defense, Khawaja Asif, continue to detach from the flames.
Recently, during a speech to students, Maryam drew parallels between terrorists, India and PTI. The comment made snowball online, with a lot of harm interpreted it as the CM PTI brand a threat greater than India or terrorism.
However, it is relevant to note that Maryam would have qualified Imran Khan in the past as dangerous than terrorism and coronavirus.
On the other hand, the federal government has left the door hampered for dialogue despite PTI’s persistent refusal to cross it.
Addressing the Express PK Press Club, Barister Akeel said that the chief minister had spoken in a “specific context” during his speech.
However, he added that PTI had already acted against the interests of the country more than once. “What political party goes against his own country by writing to the IMF, asking him to retain loans? And PTI has not shown any remorse for what he has done,” he said.
“Regarding the government, our doors are always open to the PTI,” he added. “The committee trained to engage with the PTI remains intact. All that PTI has to do is express its desire in the National Assembly. However, they apparently do not believe in political dialogue, and they do not seem interested in resolving anything.”
He denied any internal rift on PTI’s issue.
Asked about the contradictory posts of the Ministries of Federal and Provincial Information, where the Federal Minister congratulated PTI’s social media to promote the country’s account while Azma Bukhari of Punjab accused him of undermining national interests, Akeel defended the two positions.
He explained that even if the whole country had gathered to combat disinformation on digital platforms, some social media activists of PTI continued to disseminate images generated by AI to troll political leaders.
Former Nawaz family spokesperson Muhammad Zubair, addressing the Express PK Press Club, 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 reconciling faction.
He noted that the Bellicist faction was deeply distrusted with the PTI sustainable support base and sought 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 other hand, is not a hard.”
Zubair suggested that Maryam Nawaz should realize that PTI, in its current form, was not as powerful. “Why continue to call them? If the country can reach a ceasefire with India, why not with a political rival?” He asked.
“If I was Maryam’s advisor, I would tell her to be indifferent to PTI.”
