PML-N campaign kicks off

Sharif promised ‘economic explosion’ but has he learnt from mistakes?

“Nuclear explosion last time, economic explosion this time,” was the rallying call of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif as he kicked off his election campaign from Mansehra.

The PML-N has concentrated the bulk of its manifesto at being able to produce an economic recovery – no doubt the correct priority – but its own credentials remain in doubt. The fact that the campaign kicked off at a traditional PML-N stronghold meant that a good turnout, with at least 30,000 in attendance, was expected and coming a few days after the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Lahore rally signified the continuing electoral strength of traditional political parties.

Sharif spoke of his party’s inability to implement its programmes after being dismissed by military mid-tenure in 1999. Sharif spoke of his inability to fulfill his dream of making Pakistan prosperous country. He also raised the traditional reminder of how much suffering the seven years he spent out of the country after the 1999 coup by General Musharraf had given him. Perhaps, Musharraf’s return to Pakistan, without any arrest, reopened those wounds. He towed the line he has taken more recently, despite his own political origins being owed to the former Islamist dictator General Zia, that the military must not interfere in the running of the country for both democracy and the country to progress. Sharif’s own promises also included building a motorway from Lahore to Karachi – a project whose financial viability would again be questioned and raises the spectre that the Sharifs only see roads as development in a country where over 30 percent of people are still poor.

In many ways, Sharif appeared a man determined to deliver whatever agenda his party does stand for. And if opinion polls are to be believed, it is his party that will emerge as the top seat holder after the next elections, with the Pakistan Peoples Party’s credibility dampened after five fairly lean years in power.

However, no matter how strong his party’s claims and agenda appear this time around, there is no glossing over the fact that politicians continue to focus on delivering patronage above policies – and his party’s recent spate of so-called development projects in the Punjab is a reminder of such. If Sharif has learnt, it may be argued that he has taken too long to do so.

And then there is the question that should still haunt Nawaz: why was there no popular resistance in his favour when a coup d’état was staged against him? One could argue that it was his party’s failure to strengthen institutions, with his party’s attack on the Supreme Court of the time a key moment. And of course there is his ill-conceived attempt to declare himself ‘amirul momineen,’ in a polarised Pakistan. That said, the PML-N continues to show strong credentials as the election season gears up. But there is a need to up both the stakes and the level of the debate.