Nawaz Sharif in Quetta

Making friends and influencing people

Nawaz Sharif’s one day visit to Quetta was beneficial for both the local people and the Prime Minister. Sharif inaugurated a number of development projects worth billions of rupees in power transmission lines, gas pipelines and underpasses for Quetta. The projects were aimed at meeting the power demand, improving the voltage profile and generating employment opportunities. He also launched the National Health Programme for 76,000 families in the province. Ignored for decades by the federal government Balochistan has turned into the least developed of the provinces.

While in Quetta, Nawaz Sharif said things little heard before. He underlined the need to change the political culture in the country which allows only the wealthy and powerful to enjoy privileges. He also said that providing the nation with health facilities, education and employment is not a favour, it is each citizen’s fundamental right. It goes to Sharif’s credit that despite the dominance of the tribal elite in provincial politics, he  tried to forge political ties with the more enlightened political parties and middle class politicians in the province. During his 1997-99 tenure he had developed good relations with the likes of Akhtar Mengal and Mahmud Khan Achakzai. During his current tenure he has had friendly ties with the National Party, with Abdul Malik Baloch heading the coalition government till recently and Muhammad Khan Achakzai serving as provincial Governor.

This explains why, despite repeated attempts by Imran Khan to win over politicians like Akhtar Mengal, the latter declined to take part in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s sit-in at Islamabad in 2014. As the Panama leaks took the center stage, none of the nationalist parties of Balochistan supported Imran Khan on the issue. The BNP-M vice president Sajid Tareen instead advised Sharif to take the political leadership of the province into confidence over the issue. According to Tareen, his party is deeply concerned over the prevailing political crisis as it threatens to derail the entire democratic process in the country. So is ANP, the Pakhtun nationalist party.