‘Mughlia’ style of governance

Chinks in PML-N’s armour

The party ruling in Punjab and at the federal level has managed to scrape through in NA-122 in Lahore, while the challenger to the throne in the form of PTI has got a consolation prize by winning the provincial assembly seat from the same constituency. Despite the clear verdict, pundits are having a field day interpreting the results according to their own preconceived notions.

Engaging in virtual Orwellian doublespeak many analysts blatantly tilting towards PTI insist that the party, owing to the very small margin of the winner, has actually won despite having lost the prized national assembly seat. Unfortunately for them we still follow the British electoral system based on the “First-Past-The-Post” model. Naturally under the present dispensation the winner (in this case Sardar Ayaz Sadiq) takes all.

In another constituency in Okara, in the agricultural heartland of central Punjab, an independent candidate Riazul Haq Juj mauled both the PML-N and PTI candidates. Juj, the vanaspati king and a sugar hoarder of the area, spent bagfuls of money and won the day in the process. The PML-N candidate probably got a drubbing because of the falling prices of agricultural commodities, thus alienating the farmers.

Front-page analysts in national papers are lamenting the vulgar display and use of wealth. Is it a new phenomenon? For long politics has become a game of megabucks. Gone are the days when men of limited means like Sheikh Rashid (the late one), Meraj Khalid or for that matter Ghulam Nabi Malik could win in Lahore on a shoestring budget.

Front-page analysts in national papers are lamenting the vulgar display and use of wealth. Is it a new phenomenon? For long politics has become a game of megabucks

Now only money makes the mare go. Even Imran Khan, the self styled agent of change, knows that. He might not have much money of his own to spend but he has surrounded himself with those who have plenty and are also willing to squander it ostensibly in the aid of the party. Aleem Khan — the property tycoon who lost in NA-122 — is a poster boy of this phenomenon.

Predictably, the PTI has asked for a recount instead of gracefully accepting the results. Despite the travails of the Khan since the 2013 elections, he seems stuck on the groove to prove that general elections were fraudulent and flawed.

His ubiquitous dharna at D-chowk Islamabad last year, trying to induct the elusive third umpire in the arena, the unfavourable judicial commission verdict or firing brimstone running from pillar to post has not deterred the Khan from his pipedream to dislodge the Sharifs by hook or by crook.

Despite being back in the parliament for some time now PTI legislators are simply not interested in the proceedings of the both the houses. The party chief has hardly ever shown his face in the National Assembly. The result is that the second largest party in the country, also ruling in KP (Khyber PakhtunKhwa), has little or no role in giving the government a run for its money in the parliament.

Simply put, apart from branding the Sharifs and the PPP lot as patently corrupt and painting the Election Commission and NDARA officials as a bunch of crooks on the payroll of the Sharifs, it has no other narrative. Unfortunately the PTI is still unwilling to change course. Its mantra remains holding endless press conferences, appearing in talk shows on television and agitating against the government for its acts of omission or commission.

Instead of merely basing their charge sheet against the government on newspaper clippings and information gleaned from talk shows, the PTI rank and file is simply not interested in doing some serious homework. As a result the ruling party has relatively an easy run, at least within the parliament.

It is another matter that the PML-N brand is badly tarnished, partly thanks to the unabated agitation of the PTI and partly owing to its own performance or rather lack of it. The prime minister has belatedly woken up to the phenomenon of intense infighting and lack of transparency within his fold.

He has lamented the fact that some of the senior members are not even on speaking terms, and also have the gall to admit it in public. Khawaja Asif is behaving more like a bull in a china shop rather than a senior member of Sharif’s team.

The minister for water and power and defence is proud of the fact that he is not even on speaking terms with Chaudhry Nisar Ali the interior minister. Nisar has no compunctions in claiming that for him the defence minister is irrelevant as he can talk to the GHQ directly.

Khawaja as minister for water and power and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi the energy minister in unison express their open dislike for minister for planning, Ahsan Iqbal. They are also unhappy with regulators like NEPRA (National Electric Power Regulatory Authority) and OGRA (Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority) for ostensible interference in their non-transparent ways.

To make matters worse Khawaja Asif does not see eye to eye with Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif for his alleged meddling in power issues. Similarly Ishaq Dar, finance minister and virtual deputy prime minister, jealously guards his turf. Having the eyes and ears of the prime minister he does not brook any interference even from the younger Sharif.

Despite being back in the parliament for some time now, PTI legislators are simply not interested in the proceedings of the both the houses

As a prelude to the local bodies elections chinks have appeared in the armour of the PML-N rank and file. The latest to wash dirty linen in public is Chaudhry Sher Ali, second cousin of the Sharifs and an old party stalwart. He wants his son Amir Sher Ali to be the Mayor of Faisalabad.

His main grouse is the Punjab chief minister supporting his Senior Minister Rana Sanaullah rather than his cousin and nephew. Instead of promising the younger Sher Ali the mayorship, he claims to be on the side of merit saying that whoever bags more votes will be the mayor.

Nawaz Sharif, as party head and prime minister, has been a silent spectator to the utter chaos in his ranks. While he himself looks aloof and at times burnt out, not only his party but his cabinet increasingly seems to be in sheer disarray.

Perhaps in ‘Mughlia’ style of governance infighting amongst the ‘darbaris’ is not only inevitable but also desirable in order to divide and rule. The prime minister, while reposing confidence in his planning minister, has meekly asked his energy and power ministers not to be averse to transparency in the affairs of the state.

But will such mild rapping on the knuckles be enough to stem the rot? In a parliamentary system, according to the sacrosanct principal of collective responsibility, the prime minster is supposed to be the first amongst equals.

Dissenting, troublesome or erring members of the cabinet are either asked to put up or shut up. Is Sharif in a position to do either?