Shehbaz would have become PM if he was disloyal to Nawaz: Maryam

Resignations of 159 Punjab Assembly lawmakers received, says Maryam

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Saturday said Shehbaz Sharif would have become the prime minister if he had been disloyal to his elder brother and party supremo Nawaz Sharif, dispelling rumours that the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly was considering going against his brother.

She further said that Shehbaz had "rejected all such offers".

Reports have emerged suggesting that Shehbaz is in favour of a political dialogue with the government while Maryam has categorically ruled out any such possibility.

The PML-N vice president was speaking to the media at the Sharif's Jati Umra residence in Lahore, before departing for Sindh where she would participate in the PPP December 27 rally at Garhi Khuda Baksh. She is also expected to address PML-N workers in Sukkur before the rally.

Maryam, replying to a question, claimed the party had received several messages from the government side for negotiations. She continued that since a response was not given, "people were being sent" for negotiations with Shehbaz, who is currently incarcerated.

Nawaz's daughter also dispelled rumours that Shehbaz was considering a different approach from his elder brother or going against him. "It has been proven in the past and today that Shehbaz Sharif is very loyal to his brother and his party".

"If he [Shehbaz] was not loyal, then there was no need to bring this prime minister [Imran Khan] to power. Shehbaz would have been made the prime minister but he has rejected all offers."

Responding to another question regarding the possibility of negotiations with the incumbent government, Maryam said: "I believe Nawaz Sharif has made a decision and Maulana Fazlur Rehman is also very clear that no negotiations with the fake government will be held."

She further said that she had so far received 159 resignations from PML-N lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly and 95 resignations of party leaders of the National Assembly.

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.