Homecoming after over three months: Maryam Nawaz returns to reinvigorate party

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz has said she will not rest for a single day and launch a struggle for strengthening the party and providing relief to people. 

While speaking to a gathering outside the Lahore airport, she said the one who dissolved his own government was crying now.

Maryam returned from London via Dubai on a PIA flight, which landed at the Lahore airport at around 3:40 pm. Maryam Nawaz, now the PMLN chief organiser also, returned to the country after spending three-and-a-half months in London.

PMLN senior leaders included Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar [husband of Maryam Nawaz], Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Khawaja Asif, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Abid Sher Ali, Nihal Hashmi, Talal Chaudhry and others were among those who welcomed Maryam on her arrival in the country.

Addressing the party workers, Maryam said she thanked all for trusting her for the new responsibilities. She said she was deeply grateful to all for the wonderful welcome accorded to her.

“Have faith in Ishaq Dar, he will manage the economy,” Maryam said, adding that it would take some time. She announced that she would start visiting every district of Punjab from Wednesday, February 1, 2023, and those who had spent time in the party and were liked by people would be given priority [for award of the party tickets to contest elections].

The PMLN leader said she met her father after long three years and she had never stayed away from him for such a long period of time earlier. She said during the recent visit, she got a chance to learn [more about politics] from her father. The PMLN senior vice president said she could not give a final date for the return of Nawaz Sharif, but assured the party workers that he would return to the country soon. “Allah gave government to Nawaz Sharif three times, but every time he was not allowed to complete his tenure,” she said, adding that the former premier was still the most popular leader of the country. She said Nawaz Sharif had complete information about the conditions of the poor and he was keenly looking into the affairs and was trying hard to improve the economic conditions in the country. She said Nawaz Sharif had run the party for three decades; he formed it and made it a successful political party.

Maryam said the PMLN was united, the differences that exist at the local level continue to occur and every party had differences at the local level. She claimed that former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s loyalty with the party had been proven for the last three decades. Abbasi had made it clear he would not leave the party and prefer going home instead of changing the party, she said. “Party is like a home and it should be united. There should be no personal agenda in the party,” she added. “The party is like a mountain, whoever falls from it will not be more than a stone.” Taking a jibe at PTI Chairman Imran Khan, she said he was “crying” after dissolving his governments in the two provinces. He would have to cry for the rest of his life as the PMLN would win the election with a thumping majority in elections, she added. She claimed that ouster of Nawaz Sharif from the PM House on July 28, 2017 was a national tragedy, adding that Pakistan had not recovered since then. She questioned whether all the characters who hatched plots against Nawaz Sharif had not reached their logical end. The PMLN leader said “Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Shehbaz Sharif” did not take revenge from Imran Khan, adding that at the personal level, she did not believe in negativity or victimisation. “But nature has a way of maintaining balance. What goes around, comes around,” she added.

“Those who dragged families and oppressed people, they do not meet a good end.” She said Imran Khan knew that her throat operation was only possible in two countries, but he denied her a passport. Maryam claimed that the day was not far when the country would once again move forward under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif. She said that until a few days ago, Imran Khan had government in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, and now he was crying after dissolving his own governments. She said Imran Khan said he came to know about inflation through the media. He did nothing to improve the lives of people and looted the country through his cronies. She said that people were not stupid, the PMLN and its lions were not afraid of elections, the day elections would be held, the PMLN would win with a huge majority.

Earlier, PMLN women parliamentarians were not allowed to get on stage due to security reasons. Federal Minister Mian Javed Latif led a convoy of hundreds of vehicles from Sheikhupura to Lahore airport to welcome Maryam Nawaz Sharif while Ata Tarar also reached the Lahore airport from Ghaghar. All MNAs and MPAs of the PMLN from Lahore also reached the airport with hundreds of workers from their constituencies. Maryam Nawaz’s flight was delayed by forty minutes. The PMLN leaders had also decorated the entrance of Jati Umra with flowers to welcome Maryam Nawaz.