Shehbaz, Maryam ‘at odds’ over dialogue with govt

PML-N vice president embarks on two-day Sindh visit today

LAHORE:

Amid reports that incarcerated Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif is in favour of a political dialogue with the government, his niece and party's vice president Maryam Nawaz has categorically ruled out any such possibility.

Maryam said in a tweet on Friday that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has decided that it would not hold talks with the government and that her father and the party’s Supreme Leader Nawaz Sharif also stood by this stance.

“Therefore, any kind of mini or grand dialogue [with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government] is meaningless. This ‘fake and puppet’ government will not get any NRO. This is the decision of the entire nation,” she added.

The NRO referrers to the amnesty granted by the former president Pervez Musharraf to the political opponents in 2007 through the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). The ordinance was later struck down by court.

Maryam Nawaz’s tweet comes a day after Muhammad Ali Durrani of PML-Functional which is a coalition partner of the ruling PTI, met Shehbaz in Kot Lakhpat jail against the backdrop of the PDM anti-government campaign.

Later, speaking to the media after his meeting with the PML-N president, Durrani had claimed that Shehbaz appeared to be in favour of a dialogue to defuse the on-going confrontation between the opposition parties and the government.

 

Nawaz’s birthday

Meanwhile, Maryam Nawaz sent an emotional tweet on the birthday of her father. “Today is your birthday .I can't meet you but have the courage that I stand firm on your ideals and struggle,” she said in a tweet, adding: May our next meeting takes place with your perfect health.”

Wishing “Happy Birthday” to her father, Maryan said that she was not only a daughter of Nawaz Sharif but also a follower of his political ideology and insight. “Being your daughter is both an honour and a great responsibility. As a daughter, I pray for my father and as a worker [I pray] for my leader.

Sindh tour

The tweets from Maryam Nawaz came a day before her a two-day visit to Sindh from Saturday (today). She will leave for Sukkur via motorway, where she is scheduled to address the party workers at a party convention.

She will also attend the death anniversary event of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on December 27 in Larkana. Earlier this month, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had invited the PML-N Vice-President to attend the Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary in Garhi Khuda Buksh. (With additional input from DNA)