Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday tasked Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif to woo back Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
Nisar, who had issued a statement recently that he had taken a break from work due to his back problem, chose not to attend the much-important meeting held at the Prime Minister’s House on Friday where the prime minister along with his close aides weighed options in wake of the reservation of the judgment in Panama Case.
However, despite the prime minister sought valued views from his cabinet colleagues, the interior minister, despite being in Punjab House which is only a few minutes’ drive from the Prime Minister’s House, did not attend the meeting.
A well-placed source informed Pakistan Today requesting anonymity that the prime minister noticed the absence of Nisar from the meeting and directed Shehbaz Sharif to convince Nisar that it was not time to remain estranged to the party’s chief who was facing his life’s biggest political and legal challenges.
The source said that two federal ministers – Khwaja Saad Rafique and Rana Tanvir Hussain – also held separate meetings with Chaudhry Nisar and urged him to join the party’s discussion.
It is pertinent to mention here that Khwaja Saad Rafique belongs to Kashmiri group of the PML-N which is considered to be the estranged group to Chaudhry Nisar. But since Saad Rafique is considered very close to the prime minister, his meeting was significant.
Moreover, the source said, Chaudhry Tanvir is a close aide of Ch Nisar and his meeting with Nisar also was important. According to the source, Nisar told the ministers he was not angry with the prime minister and he did not attend the meeting simply because the prime minister was not interested in taking his advice.
“Nisar told his cabinet colleagues that he had spoken during the cabinet meeting whatever he had to offer on Panama case. Now it’s up to the prime minister to take his suggestions or not,” the source added.
It is pertinent to mention here that during a recent meeting of the federal cabinet, the interior minister had told Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that he was being misled by a coterie of sycophants on strategy for Panama Case whose faulty advice had led the premier to a disastrous situation.
Chaudhry Nisar had also complained to the prime minister that his advice was never sought over the issue and now when the prime minister was seeking an advice when he had found himself in a blind alley.
Moreover, the interior minister and Shehbaz Sharif had also advised the prime minister to shun blame game against the military establishment and judiciary and rather he should improve his legal defence.
Another cabinet member told Pakistan Today that Nisar had informed his cabinet colleagues his backache had risen again and he would soon be leaving abroad for medical treatment. The source said that Ch Nisar was not angry with the ruling party and soon he would clear air over the subject.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry spokesman said that interior minister would address a press conference on Sunday. “Things would be back to normal by Sunday and Chaudhry Nisar would be back in action again. Hope Shehbaz Sharif would prevail upon Nisar,” he added.