Maryam Nawaz Says PTI’s ‘Popularity Has Collapsed,’ Credits PML-N’s By-Election Win to Performance

Lahore: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has expressed gratitude over the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s sweeping victory in the recent by-elections, declaring that the party won on performance rather than narrative.

Addressing a meeting of provincial ministers and secretaries, Maryam Nawaz said, *“Elections are won through work, not slogans. Today, neither Faiz Hameed exists nor the judges who once helped PTI win. Their claims of popularity have collapsed completely.”*

She added that the PML-N regained all the seats it had lost in the 2024 general elections, calling the by-polls a “referendum” in favour of her party. *“We thank Allah Almighty for this historic victory. The people of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa voted based on performance, not rhetoric,”* she said.

Maryam Nawaz criticized the use of political engineering in past elections, recalling that TLP was “launched” in the 2017 by-polls and that PML-N’s mandate was undermined in Gilgit-Baltistan. *“Everyone knows when and for whom rigging was done,”* she remarked, adding that people were now tired of narratives that hinder national progress.

Earlier, congratulating the newly elected MNAs and MPAs, she said, *“The chapter of hatred, chaos, and discord has ended. A new era of service and development has begun.”*

Maryam emphasized that the people of Pakistan had sent a clear message through the ballot box: the country needs peace, progress, and performance—not turmoil.

*“The public has decisively chosen those who deliver. Pakistan is moving forward, and the PML-N’s clear victory reflects the people’s desire to accelerate the journey of development,”* she concluded.