Political disagreements exist in many families; however when the family is one of the major corporate tycoons of the country, the rivalry becomes more than just a dinner table anecdote. The story of Asad Umar, former head of a fertilizer producing plant, and his older brother Zubair Umar who served IBA for 25 years at senior positions, as the brains behind two parties that are formidable rivals, has thus come to fore.
Zubair is an ardent follower of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and has worked closely with Shahbaz Sharif. He was in charge of the economic policy advising for PML-N’s manifesto, and is currently heading their media cell. Asad, who has also been very close to Shahbaz Sharif, and worked under various committees during his tenure, recently shifted his loyalties to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.
The third brother, who is the chief of Karachi Stock Exchange, also supports PML-N but “President Zardari likes him very much”.
According to Asad, the real difference between the two parties is not the apparent clash of personalities but the agenda of the two parties. He explained that while both parties were well-meaning, he was attracted by PTI’s ‘rapid change’ approach, compared to the piece-meal approach adopted by PML-N.
Zubair complained that PTI’s ads portray foreign investment and employment in foreign countries in a very negative light.
“When I recently watched a portion of a PTI promotional ad on television with the background song of “Hum dekhayn gay” (we will see), showing a youth holding a bat, forcibly stopping a caravan of expensive cars like Mercedes, I phoned Asad and told him that not only you and I but many leaders of the PTI travel in costly cars in their use. Where are you leading the youth to?” Zubair asked his brother.
According to Zubair, the harsh language used by Imran Khan against the Sharif brothers is indicative of the fact that the former views this as a ‘now or never’ situation to come to power. The latter have on the other hand kept the criticisms in boundaries of democratic decency.