‘Maryam Nawaz will never apologise to…’: Pakistan’s Punjab CM clears her stance amid deepening rift with…

Lahore: Amid deepening rift with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif refused to apologise on Friday for her recent remarks that caused a tensions between her party PML-N and its ally PPP, Dawn reported. Notably, rift between PPP and PML-N started over flood compensation and later escalated to water rights on the Indus River. Earlier this week, Maryam, during a meeting in Islamabad, was asked by the PPP leaders to reconsider her tone, to which she told them to keep their advice to themselves.

How Did PPP Respond?

The PPP, in response, boycotted the National Assembly and Senate sittings.

Why Did Mariyam Nawaz Attacked PPP?

While addressing a ceremony in Lahore, Nawaz slammed PPP for what she described as unjust criticism of the Punjab government in light of the severe flooding.

“When floods swept through Punjab, the people of one province not only wrongly criticised the Punjab government, but they also rubbed salt in the wound. If there is any issue in any province, do we level false allegations at press conferences? Do we spread lies? What we do is help them,” she said.

Maryam said that, despite political differences, she reached out to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in order to offer assistance.

“Those in other provinces are my Pakistani brothers and sisters; whenever a CM likes a project I’ve done and asks me for the technology, I immediately send a minister and secretary. So when people say that I celebrate anything bad happening in another province, it is upsetting,” Dawn quoted her as saying.

Mariyam Nawaz Criticised PPP Leaders

“I want to tell Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal that I was upset when the people of Punjab were in distress. We saw Bilawal doing those three press conferences, where he mocked Punjab and spread lies that things were not being done,” she said.

“I am not going to leave my people alone. If you talk, I’ll respond befittingly.”

Rejecting the demand for an apology, the Punjab CM questioned PPP’s walkouts from parliament.

“That spokesperson who criticised the Punjab government and politicised the suffering of Punjab’s people is the one who needs to apologise,” she said.

“If I respond to anyone, I raise my voice for my people. Maryam Nawaz Sharif will never apologise.”

(with ANI inputs)