And the shenanigans of PML-N leaders
Finding that the PML-N had lost the game of numbers Nawaz Sharif acted discreetly by endorsing the nomination of PPP’s Senator Raza Rabbani that had been agreed upon at the Opposition meeting called by Asif Ali Zardari on Monday. Earlier, two teams of PML-N ministers had met the leaders of various parties to sound them out over the issue. Of these one had also called on the PML-Q top leaders who had so far been treated by the PML-N as untouchables.
Mian Nawaz Sharif has only himself to blame if his party was not taken on board by the Opposition while evolving a consensus on the top Senate posts. Many think the ruling party treated the Senate badly after coming to power. Nawaz Sharif did not attend the Senate for a whole year despite repeated requests by the Senators. Ch Nisar was so incensed at being rightly accused of presenting faulty statistics that he never turned up in the House again. The federal ministers were frequently absent from the meetings of the Senate subcommittees. This led to a perception that if the PML-N were to control the Senate, it would turn it into a nonentity or a handmaiden.
Many in the Opposition still remember the last Sharif tenure when he used his ‘big mandate’ in the National Assembly to try to enact measures aimed at arming the Prime Minister with autocratic powers. The 14th amendment, which prevented party members from violating party discipline, was struck down by the Supreme Court. Sharif then attempted to have the number of Supreme Court members reduced from 17 to 12. By 1998 Sharif had amassed more power than any previous elected civilian government in Pakistan. A proposed 15th Amendment to the Constitution, establishing Islamic law as the basis of all governance, was never fully ratified as the Senate was still not under the PML-N control. Many in the Opposition who supported Raza Rabbani did so because they were having a sense of déjà vu.