A PM has to give priority to national affairs
On Sunday Nawaz Sharif left for Saudi Arabia for his annual Aitkaf. After spending ten days in Medina he would proceed to London on another private visit. The PM would thus be out of the country for nearly two weeks for reasons that have nothing to do with the business of the state. Aitkaf is not a compulsory religious practice. It is totally optional and is meant to seek additional blessings for oneself. During the Aitkaf a person stays in a mosque for a certain number of days, devoting oneself to reciting the Quran or offering prayers. Over this period one is required to stay away from worldly affairs.
Any individual who acquires the post of the Prime Minister is expected to devote full time to the affairs of the state. He has to receive briefings from government officials and hold talks with allies and opposition leaders. In parliamentary democracies the Prime Minister is supposed to take policy decisions in cabinet meetings and attend the National Assembly sittings regularly. During more than three years of his tenure, Nawaz Sharif took decisions without caring to call the cabinet meeting till told by the Supreme Court that this was unconstitutional. He attended 36 pc meetings of the National Assembly in 2014-15 and only 10 pc in 2015-16.
Lack of focus by the Prime minister causes major issues to be put on the backburner. The constitutional requirement making it mandatory for the CCI to meet at least once in ninety days has been violated year after year by the PML-N administration. The highly important FATA reforms remain unimplemented leaving the tribal areas in limbo. Nawaz Sharif is fond of foreign visits. During the first two and half years as head of government he went on an overall 65 visits to 28 countries. With 16 visits to London alone, Britain remained Sharif’s most visited destination. The perception that the PM has enough time for foreign visits and little to look after the affairs of the state is harmful for democracy.
