ISLAMABAD: PML-Q leader Pervaiz Elahi lacks personal charisma of other major political leaders, but his political instincts and organisational skills more than compensate for the deficiency, former US ambassador Anne W Patterson was quoted by WikiLeaks as saying.
“The Pakistan Muslim League has unofficially selected former Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi as its candidate for prime ministership following 2008 national election. Elahi lacks the personal charisma of other major political leaders such as late Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, [but] his political instincts and organisational skills more than compensate for this deficiency,” Patterson wrote.
According to US diplomatic cables, the former US envoy said, “Unlike Bhutto and Nawaz, who run their parties as personal fiefdoms based on the sheer force of their personalities, Elahi and his cousin Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain have a history of deal-making and coalition-building with Pakistan’s center-right.”
Mentioning the Sharifs as Lahore-based Kashmiris who relied primarily on the army and intelligence agencies for political elevation, she said the Sharifs lacked personal ties and common ground with most of Punjab’s center-right politicians who hailed from province’s traditional feudal and industries families.
“Chaudhrys’ major rift with the Sharifs came following the 1997 election when Nawaz broke his word and, against his pledge, elevated his brother Shahbaz to the chief minister’s office, leaving Elahi as the speaker of the provincial assembly,” she said.
