CM Maryam Nawaz Says PML-N Achieved “Historic Victory” in By-Elections

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) achieved a “historic victory” in the recent by-elections.

Speaking to the media, she expressed gratitude to God for the party’s success, stating that the people of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had clearly given their verdict in favour of PML-N.

Maryam Nawaz said the party managed to win back seats it had lost in the 2024 general elections. She termed the by-election results a positive development for Punjab and its people. She also recalled that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had been removed from office in 2017.

According to the chief minister, elections are won through performance, not narratives. She said that Pakistan was progressing in 2018 but the country’s development was “derailed.” She added that the by-elections were more of a referendum than a regular poll.

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Maryam Nawaz said both she and Nawaz Sharif had served jail time but never boycotted elections, stressing that performance is the strongest narrative a party can have. “Boycotts happen only when you are certain you will lose,” she remarked.

Commenting on past political developments, she said Pakistan was developing and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was expanding during Nawaz Sharif’s tenure. “After losing, some are now claiming they boycotted. We contested elections even in the worst conditions,” she added.

She questioned the claims of popularity by rivals, saying that even during the time when she and Nawaz Sharif were in jail, the system’s Results Transmission System (RTS) had to be shut down to manipulate outcomes.

Maryam Nawaz said PML-N had faced extremely difficult periods, and standing up to the state had never been easy. She claimed that the outcome of the recent by-elections had been decided even before the vote, arguing that “neither Faiz Hameed nor the judges who once supported them are there anymore.” She alleged that former ISI official Faiz Hameed’s “full support was behind PTI” in the past.

The chief minister criticized PTI’s governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, stating that people from the province come to Punjab for medical treatment and that KP had “gone back to the Stone Age” during PTI’s rule.

She also said PTI contested the by-elections in the name of “Prisoner No. 804” and lost, claiming their “claims of popularity have collapsed.”