• Plans to visit each Punjab district from Feb 1, says Nawaz preparing to ‘come home’
• Urges people to have ‘faith’ in Dar

LAHORE: As the ruling party reels from fallout over hyperinflation and internal strife, PML-N chief organiser and heir-apparent Maryam Nawaz Sharif landed in Pakistan on Saturday, vowing to breathe a new life into the party ahead of likely elections in Punjab later this year.

Ms Nawaz, who was in London with her father for the past four months, was elevated to the rank of the senior vice president earlier this month and tasked with reorganising the party at all levels following multiple drubbings at the hands of PTI, particularly in July by-polls.

As she landed at the Lahore airport, the PML-N leader addressed an unprecedented gathering of supporters on airport premises. Ap­p­arently, she faced no problem in holding a rally on the airport premises as her party is at the helm of affairs in the Cen­tre and has its “own caretaker chief minister in Pun­jab”. A heavy contingent of police was deployed for elaborate security arrangements as well.

During her address to the party workers, she said she was excited to be back in the country and predicted the PML-N victory in the Punjab elections “whenever they will be held”.

“Whenever the elections are held the PML-N will emerge victorious,” Ms Nawaz, without referring to a specific timeframe in this regard. She was quick to add that her party was not afraid of going to the polls as projected in the media by the party’s opponents.

Maryam Nawaz also brought “good news” for her supporters. Nawaz Sharif would soon be among the party loyalists soon, she revealed, but did not give a date for his return.

“Nawaz Sharif has started making preparations for his return,” she said. According to the PML-N leader, Mr Sharif was returning after “getting stronger”. “They had sent him home [from the office of the prime minister] three times but he is coming back after getting stronger and will steer the country out of crises,” she said in a thinly-veiled reference to the establishment.

The PML-N senior vice president added that Nawaz Sharif was ousted on the basis of an Iqama (work permit) and all those involved in this “conspiracy against him had met their end”. She urged the nation to support Nawaz and Shehbaz Sharif to change the fate of Punjab.

Maryam Nawaz took a jibe at Imran Khan, claiming the PTI’s tenure was the reason for the economic woes of the country. “Imran should be held accountable for his four years in office before we [PDM] are asked for our eight months [in power],” she said and added she felt “pity seeing Imran crying” on television. “He dissolved his own assemblies and was now crying,” she quipped.

“They are reaping what they have sown,” she said, asking the PTI chairman who was responsible for inflation in the country. Ms Nawaz said she was aware of price hikes faced by the masses, but the PML-N-led coalition would overcome the economic challenges. “The nation needs to have faith in Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and God to steer the tumbling economy out of the quagmire,” she said while defending Mr Dar who has been under criticism from all sides.

Re-organisation in Punjab

Maryam Nawaz said she was going to visit every district of Punjab from Feb 1. “I will be among my party workers in every district of Punjab to re-organise it,” she declared. She said a programme in this regard had been prepared and she would work hard to “change the destiny of the people of the country”. She dismissed reports that there were differences in the party ranks, saying at the local level some differences emerged but as a whole, the PML-N was united.

It may be noted that Maryam Nawaz has started bringing in her own team in Punjab to take the reins of the party from her cousin Hamza Shehbaz, who has been out of the political scene since his defeat in the contest for Punjab’s chief ministership.

A party insider told Dawn that Ms Nawaz would have full say in the award of tickets for the provincial seats; she is also interested in the slot of the Punjab chief minister. “Practically, the Punjab chapter of the party will solely be looked after by Ms Nawaz,” he said.

Meanwhile, the caretaker government has deployed hundreds of police officials to perform security duties at Jati Umra. Earlier, in the tenure of the PTI-PMLQ, hardly a few policemen were deployed there.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2023